Teo is overrated. Beat an injured Loma, scared to give him a rematch, lost to Kambosos (who's not that great of a fighter). I think Taylor stops him.
Taylor is a class above but looked rubbish in his last fight. I'm farly confident he could stop Lopez late.
Yep at least Lopez/Kambosos was competitive and close, Taylor clearly lost to Catterall it wasn't even close. All Taylor has is size in this fight, Lopez is the more skilled fighter in my opinion and Taylor tends to give up his size by fighting inside. If Catterall can counter punch and out box Taylor then I think Teofimo could also do the same.
Guys always conflate explosive athleticism with technical sophistication for some reason. It's not wholly inconceivable that López could blast Taylor with something and hurt him, but he fights nothing like Jack, isn't a pure boxer and can't do to Josh what Jack did (i.e. largely negate him). It'll be a rumble.
True he won't fight Taylor like Catteral did, but he's arguably more dangerous. He's shown already he can cope with an elite southpaw in Loma and he has a dangerous right hand counter and we all know the right hand is the best weapon against a southpaw and Lopez has a very good one.
I find it likelier that Teófimo breaks down under the ferocity of Taylor's will than he hurts Taylor significantly enough to get rid of him. Struck me López was a little bemused that Campa was able to take his shots so often and so clean in the first five rounds last night. His punch eventually told after an unbroken procession of quite one-sided rounds, but Taylor brings a higher level and meaner degree of pressure than Campa. López isn't that hard to find, wouldn't be able to have things all his way, would be taking as well as giving licks, and I have substantial doubts that he'd hold up to the mental and physical rigors a firefight with a highly motivated, nasty Taylor would put him through.
This is what 11-8-1 7 KO's journeyman Carlos Jimenez brutally did to Campa, and that wasn't some flash KO, he'd won at least 3 to 4 rounds off of him. It's a pity Teofimo couldn't replicate that. Hell, Teo could't even replicate what Terry Flanagan did to Diego Magdaleno. So let's cool it with the vaunted power talk. He's practically a featherfist at 140, Campa was literally walking him down for 7 rounds, giving him ample opportunity to KO him, and he still was the recipient of a dodgy TKO victory, he couldn't come close to doing what Jimenez did and that was even after a knockdown. This content is protected And yes, I knew who Campa was years ago.... even though I made light of it at the time, Marvin Quintero rocked him as hard as Teofimo did in the second round. https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/great-fight-between-campa-marvin-quintero.581865/ This content is protected
But can Taylor apply that kind of pressure he usually does or do we see a repeat of the Catterall fight where he never finds an answer to Catterall's use of the shoulder and forearm to create space and prevent Taylor working inside, a tactic Lopez uses himself as we saw vs Campa. Taylor being a southpaw and Lopez being orthodox means this tactic won't work as well for Lopez as it did Catterall as Taylor will find it easier to initially land his left hand on Lopez at the start of exchanges but Taylor will still have the same issue of not being able to sustain the pressure he usually likes as he's pushed off by the shoulder and forearm.
Teo's power stayed with him at 135. Maybe after 2 fights without those spectacular kos he had in the beginning of his career he lost his confidence. I thought he looked good against Campa but then again, Campa can't punch and moves very poorly. Josh Taylor had an off night the last fight but he already showed his quality at previous fights. Josh Taylor 70-30
Increasingly hard, physical work for Catterall as the bout wore on. He had to demonstrate considerable grit amid mental and physical wear to enact those tactics. Jack's negation of Taylor had to do with more than just the determination and nous to spoil his work in-close, besides. His jab caused Taylor a lot of issues that I don't believe López has the education to replicate.
True Catterall did fade later in the fight but he had already pocketed enough rounds to win the decision, at least he did in everyone's eyes but the judges. Can Taylor KO Lopez late in the fight, something he failed to do vs Catterall? Lopez showed a good jab vs Loma but yeah he can like many punchers forget the basics and rely too much on power but that power combined with his hand speed is something Catterall didn't have, so Lopez will test Taylor in different ways, he won't have just a jab to deal with, he'll have right hand counters coming at him on the way in, something that I believe he'll struggle with as he tries to press.
