As Fight With Subriel Matias Fell Apart, Teofimo Lopez Agrees to Fight Vasyl Lomachenko’s Former Opponent in February

After Teofimo Lopez and Subriel Matias expressed mutual interest in a fight, boxing fans were hoping the two would share the ring in 2024. However, after Matias was offered $1.5 million to fight Lopez, the IBF Super-Lightweight champion refused to face Teofimo.

In the wake of this incident, as per the latest updates, ‘The Takeover’ is now finalizing a deal with a new opponent for February 2024. Here is all you need to know about Lopez’s upcoming fight.

Next potential fight of Teofimo Lopez: Opponent, date, and venue

As per Mike Coppinger from ESPN, Teofimo Lopez, 19-1, is in the process of sealing a deal with Jamaine Ortiz, 17-1-1, for February 8th, 2024. Ortiz is a 27-year-old orthodox boxer who has been in professional boxing since 2016. Formerly, he held the NABF and IBF USBA Lightweight titles in the sport. In addition, in 2022, after two back-to-back victories against Nahir Albright and Jamel Herring, he faced Vasyl Lomachenko. Despite Lomachenko being Ortiz’s first professional defeat, he went the distance of 12 rounds with the Ukrainian boxer.

Anyway, taking to X, speaking about a potential Lopez vs. Ortiz, Coppinger wrote, “Teofimo Lopez and Jamaine Ortiz are in the process of finalizing a deal for a Feb. 8 140-pound title fight in Las Vegas, sources tell ESPN. Fight takes place three days before Super Bowl Sunday. Jose Ramirez was first offered bout. Ortiz pushed Lomachenko to brink in 2022.”

In a follow-up, Coppinger added that Mandala Bay is likely to be the venue for Lopez vs. Ortiz:

Since both fighters [Lopez and Ortiz] have boxed the former Unified Lightweight Champion, Lomachenko, studying their stats against Vasyl side-by-side will help us know better about the two.

Lopez vs. Lomachenko against Ortiz vs. Lomachenko

When Lomachenko and Lopez shared the ring, Vasyl was more accurate than Teofimo since he landed 43.9% of the punches he attempted. On the other hand, Lopez, although he was more active, missed almost 73% of all the punches he had thrown in the ring. But, since Lopez had landed 183 punches [42 more than Loma did on ‘The Takeover’], he won the fight.

Read More – Subriel Matias Rejects Huge $1.5 Million Offer to Fight Teofimo Lopez After Denying Bill Haney’s $4 Million Claim

On the other hand, Ortiz fought Lomachenko neck and neck in terms of accuracy. While Lomachenko landed 21.9% of his punches, Ortiz was successful with 20.1% of the total punches he attempted. In addition, he exceeded Lomachenko by landing 34.5% of his body shots against Loma’s 30.7%. In this sense, while we have a very active boxer in Teofimo, there is a more accurate puncher in Ortiz. Should the bout happen, it will indeed be a treat. Are you interested in watching the fight? Let us know in the comments below.

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