WBO welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez will defend against No. 13 Steve Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KO) on June 29 live on ESPN at the James L. Knight Center in Downtown Miami, Florida. The event starts at 10:00 PM/7:00 PM PT on ESPN and ESPN

Teofima rejected these killers for Claggett: Raymond Muratalla, Elvis Rodriguez and Kenneth Sims Jr. Any confidence Teofimo once had in his career has evaporated since 2021 and he looks like a washed-out one-hit wonder.

You could argue that the 34-year-old Claggett is just a step above the journeyman level. With seven losses and no significant wins on his long, 15-year resume, Claggett is a indigent choice to challenge for a world title.

A confidence booster for Teofimo

This is another indigent fight for former unified lightweight champion Teofimo (20-1, 13 KO), who won a controversial 12-round unanimous decision over Jamain Ortiz last February in Las Vegas.

Teofimo clearly lost that fight, picking up his second controversial victory in his last three appearances, hurting his popularity even more than it already was after being defeated by George Kambosos Jr. in 2021.

Some might argue that Teofimo’s promoters at Top Rank are pitting him against Claggett to ensure he wins and artificially enhance his skyrocketing popularity.

By feeding Teofimo a lower-level fighter, his chances of winning and looking good are high, which will enhance the interest of casual boxing fans who are unaware that Claggett is not highly rated and is not the best at 140 at all.

“It’s like a Rocky Balboa story for Steve Claggett,” Teofimo said, essentially admitting that in his voluntary defense he was facing a hopeless ham and egg rather than one of the killers who could potentially dethrone him.

“There were no other fighters who were interested in fighting me and I felt like he would give not only me but also the fans a great fight to watch,” Teofimo said.

Teofimo isn’t being truthful when he says “no other fighters” are interested in fighting him. There are plenty of 140-pound contenders who would jump at the chance to fight Teofimo if he and his promoters at Top Rank were willing to fight them.

Fighters wanting to fight Teofimo:

Jamaine Ortiz
Keyshawn Davis
Richardson Hitchins
Gary Antuanne Russell
Arnold Barboza Jr.
Sandor Martin
Prograis, apparently
Elvis Rodriguez
George Kambosos Jr.
Jose Ramirez

Teofimo appears to be tired of losing to Kambosos three years ago and has failed to live up to the expectations fans and media had for him after his upset against the injured Vasily Lomachenko in 2020.

Robeisy Ramirez vs. Brandon Leon Benitez

Former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (13-2, 8 KO) will face the little-known Brandon Leon Benitez (21-2, 9 KO) in a 10-round main support fight.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, Robeisy lost his WBO 126-pound title in his last fight against lanky Rafael Espinoza by a 12-round majority decision last December in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Espinoza’s height, reach and high output caused Robeisy huge problems. Robeisy knocked off Espinoza in fifth place, but let him off the hook by failing to finish.

Espinoza then dominated the later rounds and knocked down Robeisy in the 12th round with a barrage of shots. After this loss, it’s understandable why Top Rank is fitting Robeisy into a cushioned touch.

Still, he’s 30 years ancient, has lost twice in his brief five-year career, and can’t afford to fight tomato cans for long because he has more than enough experience as an amateur to bounce back from the best, provided he doesn’t face someone as elevated as Espinoza at 180 cm.

To beat a guy like this, Robeisy would have to concentrate more on his shots, as his amateur style of throwing single shots didn’t work against this high-volume effect.

PROMOTER Frank Warren says Tyson Fury gave Oleksandr Usyk a “boxing lesson” before his fighter suffered a nosebleed during Saturday’s heavyweight clash.

When the “Gypsy King” got up from his stool before the ninth round – one of the most dramatic rounds in recent heavyweight history – blood came from his nose, which affected him from then on.

The ninth will be remembered because Fury was at sea during Usyk’s sustained attack, which threatened to end the fight until referee Mark Nelson saved Fury by awarding him a standing eight.

After eight rounds, referee Manuel Oliver Palimo scored four goals for Fury, while referees Craig Metcalfe and Mike Fitzgerlad gave the Briton five.

“It was a fantastic fight, it was a spectacle. Two undefeated fighters who gave it their all,” said Warren, who promotes Fury with Bob Arum.

“Tyson obviously had a problem with his nose and I think he just lost concentration for a moment. Up to this point it looked like he was giving it to him [Usyk] boxing lesson.

“At first I thought he had broken his nose. Because he kept touching it, right? And he had difficulty breathing.

“But Oleksandr, the fighter that he is, came back at it and had a great round. And that’s it. But I was thinking about Tyson [won]I generally agreed with the judge [Craig Metcalfe] give it to Tyson.”

With the score at 10-8, Usyk took his advantage and continued to put enormous pressure on Fury, but the former WBC champion performed impressively in the final round, which was awarded to him by all three judges. However, despite his efforts, Usyk was crowned the undisputed heavyweight champion.

“I know everyone would say, well, you would say that, but I felt him [Fury] won,” Warren said. “But we don’t complain about it because many people have seen it in different ways. But what a fantastic fight. It was a great night in the Kingdom. And that’s something people will remember.”

Soslan Asbarov has suffered a huge blow to his once promising career.

The undefeated cruiserweight was handed a six-year suspension for violating the policy of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). Test samples taken from October 28^vol The fight with Alexei Papin ended with a positive result for the presence of an unspecified banned substance.

Asbarov was previously credited with a ten-round unanimous decision victory over his compatriot in Moscow. Russian Boxing Federation manager Dmitry Antonov confirmed to The Ring that the verdict was changed to no-contest on April 15 after verification of the test result.

Antonov was not allowed to confirm the substance in question due to confidentiality clauses in RUSADA’s testing policy. RUSADA officials only confirmed to The Ring that the result was first discovered on December 22 last year and later verified.

“RUSADA has overturned the decision by which the athlete Soslan Asbarov was excluded from competition for six years,” a RUSADA spokesman confirmed to The Ring. “Decision [was made] on April 15, 2024, with credit for the period of fleeting suspension completed [backdated to] December 22, 2023.”

Asbarov is currently ranked No. 8 in the cruiserweight division by The Ring Magazine, although that will change soon.

The 32-year-old boxer was found to have violated RUSADA anti-doping rules 4.1 (presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in a sample collected from the athlete) and 4.2 (Utilize or attempted employ by an athlete of a prohibited substance or a Prohibited Method). Both clauses impose full responsibility on athletes for any substance detected in their body.

This development crushes the initial momentum of the two-year pro, who quickly managed to break into competition.

Asbarov’s second professional victory was an eight-round knockout of veteran fighter Dmitry Kudryashov in September 2022.

Just six months later came a victory over another cruiserweight brute. Asbarov defeated Brandon Glanton by ten-round majority decision on March 18 in Dubai. For now, this is his last victory in history.

Asbarov defeated Papin in the second round of their October 28 fight, en route to a ten-round unanimous decision. This feat caused him to shoot up The Ring’s rankings, and Papin dropped out of the top ten. The matter is currently up for a vote on the ring’s ratings panel, and Papin is expected to return after this week’s update.

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