Teofimo Lopez eyes move to welterweight, Sunny Edwards beats Adrian Curiel, Jesse Rodriguez stops Juan Francisco Estrada
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ByEurosport
Published 30/06/2024 at 09:14 GMT
There was a busy night of boxing in the United States on Saturday, with two world titles up for grabs. Teofimo Lopez retained his WBO super lightweight belt against the experienced Steve Claggett, while the exciting super flyweight Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez stopped Juan Francisco Estrada to become the WBC and Ring Magazine super flyweight champion in Phoenix.
Teofimo Lopez
Image credit: Getty Images
Teofimo Lopez cruised to victory over Steve Claggett, Sunny Edwards beat Adrian Curiel, and Jesse Rodriguez is a champion once more after defeating Juan Francisco Estrada.
WBO super lightweight champion Lopez failed to stop veteran Claggetti in Miami on Saturday night, but was the clear winner on the scorecards.
The New Yorker moved onto 21-1 (13 KOs) with the victory as he won by a convincing 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109 margin.
After holding four belts at lightweight before chafing against the weight, he then moved up to 140lbs to become champion once more.
However, speaking after the bout, he suggested he would soon move up once again.
“To be real – I’m going to be frank with you guys – I feel like with this weight cut and everything, my body’s growing,” he said.
“And although it don’t look like I can handle myself at 147, I believe I can. I truly believe I can, and I want these great champions.”
Former flyweight champion Edwards fought against another former title-holder - Curiel who won a belt at junior flyweight - and came away with a win in Phoenix.
Edwards suffered a cut after an accidental headbutt in the sixth round and the doctors stepped in three rounds later as the blood flow could not be sufficiently staunched, meaning the result would be decided by the judges.
The judges gave it to the Briton 90-82, 88-84, 87-85, drawing boos from the American crowd given the premature stoppage.
Speaking after his win, Edwards made it clear he had wanted to continue.
“I don’t know if the crowd realises what happened, but I had nothing to do with this. The referee stopped the fight. I’m more upset than any of the 10,000 fans,” he explained. “I thought I was going to get him out of here.”
Edwards and Curiel were fighting on the Estrada v Rodriguez card, and the main event saw “Bam” take the title from the incumbent.
Rodriguez has remarkable power for a super flyweight and a brutal liver shot brought a seventh-round stoppage.
Estrada was relieved of his WBC and Ring Magazine titles, and could now look towards another pound-for-pound talent, Japan’s Naoya Inoue.
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