Following Teofimo Lopez’s unanimous decision victory over Steve Claggett over the weekend, Chris Algieri puts on his analyst hat, breaks down the performance and explains why Lopez should probably stay at 140 pounds instead of moving up to welterweight. Below are some of Algieri’s thoughts.

Algieri on his reaction to Lopez’s victory over Claggett

“Listen, Claggett had a lot of will, he was in great shape, he grew a huge beard and he took really good body photos. Teofimo impressed me with his work, he was obviously conditioned. He knew what he had in front of him – so did I, I actually predicted the decision, I know a lot of people predicted a knockout.

I think it was very critical for him to make a statement with the knockout, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying. Claggett had a tough game, but it just wasn’t an effective performance. (Claggett) imposed his will but was not effective.

About Lopez’s performance and his path forward

“He’s talking about moving up to 147 pounds, which I don’t really recommend. He didn’t show the same strength he had in 1935 at 140 pounds, so now he’s 5-0 at 140 pounds, with only one KO and that was against Pedro Campa early on. Still, it was more of an exhaustion than a single shot. So I think he has a chance to unite. I favor him over all the other champions in this weight class, so I think it would be a good idea for him to win some belts.”

About Claggett showing stamina in battle

“His chin was great and he didn’t really show much wear until the later rounds when his nose started bleeding and he wobbled a few times. I think he got injured more often than we were able to see because he hid it well, but he did really well, he has a lot of experience.

On whether Lopez will have to change his style if he wants to compete at 147 pounds

“Absolutely. Not only are the guys going to be bigger, but he’s going to have to go 12 rounds every time, and you don’t want those large guys beating you up. If you can find a guy who’s 147 years ancient and doing what Steve Claggett did, that’s going to be a very, very challenging evening for Teofimo Lopez.

“But we saw he has fitness, he landed almost a thousand punches tonight and he has a career high in punches thrown and punches landed. So there could potentially be a different style and he has shown that he has the fitness even though he is an explosive guy.”

The undercard for the Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry fight on July 20 has been announced. One fight from the original card on the day remains, but the others have been replaced.

Here’s the card summary at this point:

• As we previously informed, Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO) will face a rematch at 140 pounds Stevie Morgan (14-1, 13 KO), 35-year-old resident of Tampa. This will keep Serrano, 35, busy and in good shape as she prepares for her November 11 rematch with Katie Taylor. 15, this time for Taylor’s undisputed super lightweight championship. In a way, all this could have turned to Serrano’s advantage. She will have extra time to make sure she fights at 140 pounds to the best of her ability.
• Ashton “H2O” Sylve (11-0, 9 KO) will fight Lucas Bahdi (16-0, 14 KO) in a 10-round lightweight fight. The 20-year-old Sylve, who is a top MVP candidate, was originally scheduled to face leading Golden Boy candidate Floyd Schofield that day. It’s not that good. Bahdi (30) is a Canadian fighter who basically fought at the club level.
• Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (53-6-1, 34 KO) is also still on the list, but we will fight another former MMA opponent. He was originally supposed to face Darren Till, now Chavez will be his opponent Hall of Uriah (1-0 in boxing) in a six-round cruiserweight fight. Chavez (38) hasn’t fought since the end of 2021 and his prime is long behind him. Hall, 39, made his professional boxing debut in October. 2022, defeating former NFL star Le’Veon Bell when it was revealed that Bell was not good at boxing.
• Shadasia Green (13-1, 11 KO) will want to recover from her first defeat Natasha Spence (8-4-2, 6 KO) in an eight-round super middleweight fight. Last December, Franchon Crews-Dezurn revealed her very circumscribed skills to Green, 34. Spence, 38, is 0-2-1 in her last three fights and has only had one fight since 2017.

The show will air on DAZN pay-per-view from the Amalie Arena in Tampa. The fight is obviously extremely close and the draw will be Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry or nothing.

Teofimo Lopez spent some time talking to the boxing media about his upcoming fight against Steve Claggett this week and where he plans to continue his career, wanting to stay as dynamic as possible. Lopez says other top fighters are avoiding him, but he will continue to build his momentum in the future.

Lopez on what statement he plans to make against Steve Claggett

“With Claggett, I can’t wait to make a real statement that I have everything I need. I have everything it takes to win as a true champion. It doesn’t matter who they put in front of me, we’ll always do it, but we need good dancing partners and on Saturday night we’ll have a tough, tough fighter in Steve Claggett, a guy I’ve had 15 years of professional playing experience under my belt and I definitely know how to tardy down these fighters and their pace to fight his style.”

About who he wants to fight after he defeats Claggett

“You can expect many things. People will put my name in many places. That’s what it’s all about, it’s about productivity and that’s what a lot of people have complained to me about. But then I go to fight guys like Steve Claggett and they complain about it, so… everyone always complains about something.

“As long as we stay dynamic and fight four times this year, that will be my goal. Three times what the highest rank could give me and we can’t wait to see if there will be more fights after this.

On who he thinks will win the Gervonta Davis vs. Vasily Lomachenko fight

“I believe Tank will be nervous before the fight. Loma will show his skills, Tank will try to take him down. Loma needs to hit the body, Tank will try to hurt him by headhunting, throwing his favorite shot that he likes to throw, which is his left hand.

“But I feel that if he can go the distance, Tank will win. Stopping – I love Loma, man, he was a tough fighter when I faced him, I’ll say that. However, I feel like he’s not the same as he used to be. But the number of punches that Tank showed against Frank Martin, he was losing every round, he was just waiting for that one large shot. If he fights like this, Loma will win.