Teofimo Lopez felt like he was “chasing chickens” while during his fight with Jamaine Ortiz his opponent refused to engage.
The 26 year old made the first defence of his WBO super lightweight title in an encounter at Las Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena so tedious that those present booed from the second round until the end.
He was awarded scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 on account of his superior punch accuracy and intent on an evening when the negative Ortiz, 27, consistently did his previously respected reputation considerable harm.
The confirmation that is expected of a fight on April 20 between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia comes when Lopez remains considered the world’s finest super lightweight but when that status will be under increased threat.
Lopez won his title with a career-best performance last summer against the previously undefeated Josh Taylor, when he excelled throughout Taylor’s attempts to win.
“This fight was not a fight,” he told ProBox TV. “This was a Roy Jones Jr chasing chickens type of fight, and that’s really what it was. I really need to talk to Roy Jones more about how to catch chickens.
“It was like a man trying to grab a chicken, you know what I am saying? You can only do so much. Come on, even when I was cutting the ring, the guy was just ducking as low as he could and running out of the side.
“When we cut off one side of the ring, we expected him to be there. However, this is what happens when they don’t want to compete when they don’t want to fight.
“I don’t mind. However, people can be as hard on me as much as they like, but until I face a real fighter again, this is the kind of event you are going to have. That is sad to say.”
Lopez-Ortiz brought reminders of the fight in November, also in Las Vegas on a Thursday evening, between Shakur Stevenson and Edwin de los Santos, when De Los Santos showed similarly little desire to win.
“We worked on the shifting and fainting, and I tried those things, but he [Ortiz] would jump out of range double quickly,” Lopez continued. “It is so difficult at those moments when we’re shifting and trying, and he is not there, just running and running, trying to survive.
“I would understand if he was running back and trying to counter from it, trying to get me off the ropes or something. But he didn’t even want to do that.
“The reason why he didn’t do that is because of my ring IQ; my speed; my power and the moment those things come into play, they don’t want to show themselves.
“If they want to play that game and the boxing world wants to play that game, then we will expose them because they do not want to compete. I will say this about the champions to ProBox TV – they do not want to win. They want clout.
“They want to be known as famous fighters, but nothing more than that. They do not want to be champions. They do not want to make the sacrifices and give their blood, sweat, and tears, and it showed.”
