By: Sean Crose
Teofimo Lopez returned to the ring Friday night to battle Arnold Barboza in defense of his WBO junior welterweight title. The throwdown was scheduled for a championship 12, yet the match’s location – smack dab in the middle of Time’s Square – made the bout instantly unique. It would be the action in the ring, however, that would determine how the fight would be remembered. The 21-1 Lopez fired crisp jabs in the first while the 32-0 Barboza looked for openings. Lopez landed a hard left to the body before round’s end. Both men traded in the second, though nothing of particular note happened. Lopez fired his shots more effectively in the third.
While Barboza was certainly in the fight it was clear in round four that Lopez was edging his man. Lopez took to showboating a bit in the fifth. Barboza wasn’t broken down yet, however. Indeed, he tagged Lopez in the sixth. It wasn’t enough to change the course of things, though, for by the seventh Barboza was once more hesitant to throw. The truth was that Lopez was having a good night for himself. As the eighth rolled into the ninth, the fight had fallen into a simple pattern of Lopez hitting without getting hit.
As the fight wound down, Barboza remained hesitant while Lopez essentially fired at will. His performance in round nine was a masterclass. Barboza tried landing on Lopez in the tenth, but Lopez was able to avoid the shots. Lopez continued to impress in the eleventh. Unsurprisingly, the defending champion went on to cruise his way through the twelfth and final round. It was some kind of performance, one which earned Lopez a unanimous decision win.
