Photograph: Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc/Top Rank/Getty Images Josh Taylor and Teófimo López embrace after Saturday’s fight. You’ve got to outsmart the man and get in there, and I did that.” “But you’ve got to counter the counter-puncher. “Josh Taylor is a tough dude and I can see why he beat so many fighters,” said López, who landed 158 of 517 shots (30.6%) compared to 82 of 341 for Taylor (24.0%), according to Compubox’s punch statistics. But the durable Taylor absorbed his opponent’s worst offerings over the final minutes and made it to the bell upright, a testament to his punch resistance and sheer will. The American pressed hard for the knockout in the closing frames, connecting with a flush uppercut in the 11th round that likely would have floored any lightweight in the world. Mounting fatigue reduced Taylor’s responses to wild looping shots the challenger was able to evade with ease. López put on a show in the ninth, snapping Taylor’s head back with punches from all angles and just plain beating up the bigger man before him. Out of answers, the Scot ceded total control to his emboldened opponent, who touched him up with one punishing counter after another. They soon did all the same.īy the seventh Taylor had all but abandoned the jab under López’s unyielding pressure and was getting beaten to the punch consistently, rendered tactically bankrupt amid worrying stretches of inactivity. Had it not been so close to the end of the round, things might have gotten more complicated for Taylor. As the overwhelmingly partisan crowd chanted vulgarities at the champion, López landed a concussive right hand that rocked Taylor backward into the ropes. The two-way action unfolded at a fast pace and on even terms into the fourth, where the hyperfocused López began separating himself through superior hand speed and workrate, appearing to gain confidence by the minute. Taylor, the stylish 32-year-old southpaw from Edinburgh, pressed his advantages of two inches in height and one inch in reach from the opening bell, targeting the challenger’s body with educated combination punching even as the quicker López, a natural left-hander operating from an orthodox stance, cleverly maneuvered to land the heavier shots. I need the pressure on me because that’s what makes diamonds and tonight I shined very bright.” “I like ‘against all odds’, I like when I question myself,” Lopez said. Photograph: Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc/Top Rank/Getty Imagesīut after silencing the doubters in emphatic fashion, López was a picture of jubilation as he described how he’s at his best when things appear at their worst. Teófimo López lands a right hand during Saturday’s title fight. In a Ring magazine poll of 21 boxing experts published on Tuesday, all 21 picked Taylor to win. There were the series of concerning statements throughout the promotion that drifted into suicidal ideation, calling his mental fitness into question and creating a general perception of chaos around his personal life. There were the contentious ongoing divorce proceedings with his wife, who he’s said is denying him contact with their son. There was the self-doubt that surfaced after December’s plodding decision over Sandor Martin. The pessimism surrounding the American’s chances in Saturday’s affair had gone beyond the high caliber of his opponent and his uneven form since the upset loss to George Kambosos that chased him from the lightweight ranks. “We just beat the No 1 guy, the lineal world champion, the former undisputed world champion.” “It’s been a long time coming,” López said. But he dramatically raised his game against Taylor, the division’s alpha dog since consolidating all four belts only two years ago, by landing the cleaner, harder punches all night before an animated sold-out crowd of 5,151 spectators that turned the Theater at Madison Square Garden into a rollicking bandbox. López, a former unified lightweight champion, went off as an underdog for only the second time in his professional career, having failed to impress in two previous outings against fringe contenders since climbing to 140lbs.
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