Teofimo Lopez failed to bring in big ratings on ESPN for his WBO light welterweight belt title defense against Jamaine Ortiz last Thursday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
The low ratings for Teofimo, coupled with his controversial win, could make it harder for him to get the fights he wants, and it puts him in the Rolly Romero realm of being viewed as a paper champion.
Ratings Struggle
Jed I Goodman reports on X the following ratings for Teofimo Lopez’s fight against Jamaine Ortiz last Thursday night on ESPN:
“The 2nd Top Rank Boxing event on ESPN of 2024: #LopezOrtiz averaged 451K viewers. (0.13 in the 18-49 demo). (Thurs)
“2024:
Event 1: Beterbiev/Smith: 590K (0.14).”
That’s bad news for Teofimo (20-1, 13 KOs), given that his 12-round unanimous decision win over Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) has overwhelmingly seen as a gift by the judges, with only small segment of fans viewing him as the winner.
A Pattern of Questionable Victories
Those were the ones who credited him with pushing the fight but not landing anything. In football terms, they credited Teofimo with moving the football but not getting it over the goal line. Sorry, that’s not how you win.
Teofimo’s struggle against a fringe contender like #11 WBO Jamaine Ortiz tells you something about his level. Even if you ignore Teofimo’s questionable win and poor ratings, it looks terrible that Jamaine made him look so average.
Is Teofimo’s Record an Illusion?
Fans on social media view this fight as another loss to go along with his fight against Sandor Martin, and George Kambosos Jr. They also believe that Teofimo’s victory over Vasily Lomachenko was gift as well, and that fight should have been scored a draw due to Loma sweeping the entire second half of the contest.
If you take away the controversial scoring, Teofimo’s true record will be 17-3-1 instead of 20-1.
Teofimo’s controversial fights:
- Jamaine Ortiz
- Sandor Martin
- Vasily Lomachenko
What’s Next for Teofimo?
If you’re Top Rank, you have to be concerned about the pattern of controversial decisions and low ratings for Teofimo Lopez.
It’s one thing for the judges to be bailing Teofimo out continually, but for him to fail to draw that suggests that Top Rank has got an albatross on their hands that they need to cash out with quickly and cut him a drift to trim the fat from their stable.
