Taylor vs. Lopez Preview
The Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden will host a dynamic title fight on Saturday June 10. Josh Taylor will defend his WBO junior welterweight title against former champion Teofimo Lopez.
Taylor (19-0, 13 KO) is coming off a split decision victory over Jack Catterall in February 2022 to defend his titles. The win was his fourth successful title defense since becoming a champion in 2019. With the most recent win Taylor has made it clear that he is on track to becoming the unified junior welterweight champion, but he must first get by a fighter who has something to prove.
The champion is ready to take on the fight no matter where it goes. "The way I think he's going to fight, we'll put him out of there early," Taylor told Sky Sports. "But if it goes the other way, which I think it might do as well, it'll be a boxing match, a clever boxing match but nothing that I'm going to be surprised with.
The Scottish fighter is ready for the skills that Lopez possesses. "I've watched him quite a bit in the lead up to this fight and I think I know what I'm expecting. But whatever he brings, I'm more than ready for.
He continued, "Having said that, the fighter that beat Lomachenko is the version of Teofimo Lopez that I'm preparing for; a very good fighter.”
The 32-year-old is ready to prove what type of champion he really is. "Having said that, the fighter that beat Lomachenko is the version of Teofimo Lopez that I'm preparing for; a very good fighter.”
Lopez is coming off a split decision victory over Sandor Martin in December 2022. He is the former IBF, WBA (Super), and WBO lightweight champion. Since losing his titles in 2021, he has won two straight fights and is looking to prove to the world that he is still the champion we witnessed back in 2019.
The 25-year-old believes he has what it takes to defeat Taylor. “This guy, no one has really called out Josh Taylor. Who knows why, maybe because he beat everybody already,” Lopez said, before talking directly to the champion. “So for me, I’m here. I’m here to come in there and take everything that you’ve got.”
Lopez addressed the pundits who have written him off as a champion. “For me, I think it’s just really the best version of me that I have yet to see in myself,” Lopez said. “I questioned myself because I know I’m greater and every true artist always does that.”
He concluded, “So when it comes to Josh Taylor, junior welterweight, he is the guy and that’s the guy you’ve got to beat to be the greatest, right?” Lopez said. “So this is what we aim for all the time.”
The fight can be seen on ESPN +
