“Embarrassing”: Fans Get Furious as Top Rank Removes Loss From Teofimo Lopez’s Record Ahead of Jamaine Ortiz Fight

An innocent goof-up? Or a deliberate maneuver? Teofimo Lopez succeeded in defending his world title. It’s a fourth straight win for the Honduran-American champion. Today’s decision and the scorecards might remain talking points for some time. But much before the match took place, a screen grab and an update ignited a flurry of conversations across the chat boxes.

Teofimo Lopez defeated Jamaine Ortiz by a unanimous decision. The win will surely add to ‘The Takeover’s legacy as he plans to scale up and fight bigger names for bigger paydays. Fans would be more than happy with their icon’s triumph. But it may not blend well when facts and figures appear off-target, as many fans observed today. Could it be a matter of magnifying a mole into a mountain, or is there more to the story than meets the eye? On expected grounds, a few questions were followed by a lot of comments from a charged-up lot.

Teofimo Lopez: Once Bitten, Totally Shy?

The run-up to the main event saw the reigning champion’s photo and name appearing on a display. So far, so good. But what stirred up the hornet’s nest was the record that appeared. For the challenger, the stats were precise. 17 wins, of which 8 were knockouts, against 1 loss and 1 draw. However, certain followers found themselves perplexed by the details presented for ‘The Takeover’.

It read: 19 wins, 13 secured through knockouts, against nil losses. How in the heavens is that possible? The number of wins and knockouts is correct. Nineteen wins have now become twenty, accompanied by thirteen knockouts. But the losses?

Nearly three years ago, on November 27, 2021, Teofimo Lopez received his first professional defeat at the hands of George Kambosos Jr. Just a year before, Lopez did the unthinkable by defeating Vasyl Lomachenko to become the lightweight division’s unified champion. But unfortunately, he couldn’t do much to retain the title from the marauding Aussie’s onslaught. By August of the following year, he had joined the light welterweight class.

The fans just had a field day. Quite a few questioned the motive. Then, as usual, some just saw the joke in the whole incident.

Writings on the Screen

Many harked back to the old debate over whether Teofimo Lopez held the undisputed title or not. The win over ‘Loma’ fetched him three belts, viz., the WBA (its super version), the WBO, and the Ring. He retained his IBF title.

To the following user, the entire incident was completely disgraceful.

Then this follower recalled how a similar thing happened in Lomachenko’s case as well.

The following user asked matter-of-factly whether the person in charge forgot the Kambosos Jr. defeat.

Then this follower mentioned how even Naoya Inoue‘s record appeared incorrectly at times.

Finally, on the undisputed question, the following fan said that since Lopez unified four belts, he was indeed an undisputed champion in a way, though not in a real sense.

For records, it should be noted that in the four-belt era, only a boxer who wins the title of the four main sanctioning bodies—the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF—is deemed an undisputed champion. The Ring, it should be noted, is not a sanctioning authority. In Teofimo Lopez’s case, at the time when he defeated ‘Loma’, he had only three of the four sanctioned belts, i.e., the WBA, WBO, and the IBF. Devin Haney apparently held the WBC belt at the time. Hence, that rendered Teofimo Lopez essentially a unified lightweight champion.

Read More: Jamaine Ortiz Questions Teofimo Lopez’s ‘Heart’; Predicts Knockout Win on February 8th for ‘Real Dog’

What’s your take on the whole scene? Please share your views with us in the comments below.

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