The Takeover Returns As Teo Shocks New York And Edwards Shows His Class

It was a tale of two different stories in Saturday night’s main events as Sunny Edwards showed his class in London and Teofimo Lopez shocked the boxing world in New York.

Without an opponent just seven weeks out from this scheduled date, Sunny Edwards was troubling the matchmaker but it was his long-term social media troll, Andres Campos, who took the opportunity to step into the firing line, and he was certainly all guns blazing in the first round.

The Chilean was immediately on the front foot trying to back up the reigning champ. Like Edwards tends to do, he looked to give his rival some sort of false hope by sitting back on the ropes and making it look like he was troubled. Of course, he wasn’t.

In round two, ‘Showtime’ decided to open the curtains and show Campos exactly what he’d got himself into. Light on his feet and already starting to pick his Chilean rival off, it was a dominant performance for the next four rounds. 

Campos did show, however, that he wasn’t finished yet and he found a second wind just in time for the second half of the fight with constant front foot pressure which was making Edwards work harder than he’d probably anticipated against this calibre of opponent.

The second half of the fight was more of the same and it ultimately saw Edwards coast to a unanimous points decision win with all three judges scoring the fight 117-111 in favour of the Brit.

What next for Edwards?

Well, Eddie Hearn has promised him a unification fight with Bam Rodriguez, highly tipped to be the man who could potentially beat the man.

Also on the card, Ellie Scotney picked up the WBA Super-Bantamweight world title with a boxing masterclass against reigning champ Cherneka Johnson whilst Cheavon Clarke entertained for five rounds against David Jamieson before the referee stepped in to save the Scot for another day.

Nina Hughes retained her WBA World Bantamweight title in her first fight back and Reece Bellotti showed that he is now fully immersed in an Indian summer after a brave points victory over Youssef Khoumari. 

With the action in London finished for the night, all beady boxing eyes sailed across the Atlantic to witness Josh Taylor’s WBO & Ring Magazine Super-Lightweight title defence against Teofimo Lopez.

The build-up to the fight was messy, really messy. Comments made by Lopez insinuating he was prepared to kill and be killed in the ring didn’t go down well with many within the boxing circle or even outside of it. Many people on social media questioned whether the fight should even have been going ahead due to Lopez’s visible lack of mental well-being. 

The pair had to be separated by police on two occasions in fight week and that set the scene for what was to be a significant night in the super-lightweight division.

A 1/2 favourite at the bookies, Taylor started off the fight looking as though he was the champion. Cool, calm, collected and patient, round one was very much a sussing out round for both, but it was Taylor who edged it.

In round two, however, Lopez looked to plant his feet and land heavy single shots whereas his Scottish rival was looking to counter those assaults with fast combinations of his own.

In a similar fashion to the first couple, round three was a battle to assert dominance between both fighters but it was after this that it really took a turn.

To the surprise of many, 'The Takeover’ returned. For pretty much the next six or seven rounds, the old Teofimo Lopez, that we’d grown to love and admire, was back doing what he does best, entertaining inside a boxing ring.

Taylor had no answer.

Lopez’s hand speed combined with the single shot power along with his elusiveness on the back foot was troubling Taylor.

The champion is a fighter who relies heavily on rhythm but he was more two-step instead of a cha-cha-cha as Lopez continued to bamboozle him. 

It was turning into a bit of a masterclass from Lopez.

Taylor did, however, seem to find a way back into the fight in round 10 as for the first time in the second half of the contest, he looked as though he was the champion and not the contender. 

Lopez stepped it up another gear though and asserted his dominance in rounds 11 and 12, hurting the Scot on multiple occasions and putting one hand on those belts.

The beneficiaries of two contentious decisions in their last outings, many boxing fans would have been well within their rights to expect the unexpected when it came to the judge's scorecards. 115-113 x2 and 117-111 all in favour of Lopez was what was read out and the right man had won.

What next for Lopez? Well, according to him, he’s got a court case to focus on and no boxing fan would berate him for taking some time off to get his stuff together outside of the ring so we can finally see him fulfil his potential inside of it.

Potential unification clashes with Regis Prograis, Subriel Matias or Rolly Romero are the obvious options but with his contract with Top Rank and ESPN rumoured to run out this year, the world really is his oyster.