Josh Taylor, still unbeaten but no longer the unified 140 pound champ, will face Teofimo Lopez, the former unified world lightweight champ, in New York TONIGHT live on ESPN+. The fight, a dream fight for the Scot, who has always wanted to fight at Madison Square Garden, will see Taylor defend his one remaining belt; this the WBO strap.
Speaking with Sky Sports as the fight was made official, Taylor, 19-0(13) said he will win the fight by KO. Lopez, 18-1(13), beaten only by George Kambosos Jr, has different ideas. For a while, Lopez has been calling out Taylor. Now, the fight dubbed “Cross The Divide” will pit two men together who each need a win and cannot in any way afford a loss.
Taylor is of course coming off that, it-seems-ages-ago-now, 12 round decision win over Jack Catterall; the February 2022 win for Taylor looked at as one of the most controversial decisions in some time.
JOSH TAYLOR VS. TEOFIMO LOPEZ START TIME
- Date: Saturday, June 10
- Time: 8 p.m. ET / 1 a.m. BST
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 11:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 a.m. BST
- The fight will take place at the Hulu Theater at MSG, New York.
- The fight will be available LIVE on ESPN+ in the U.S. In the UK, viewers can watch the fight on Sky Sports.
- The main card is set to get underway at 8 p.m. ET / 1 a.m. BST with the main event ringwalks scheduled for 11:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 a.m. BST. These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights.
Brooklyn’s Lopez is coming off a split decision win over Sandor Martin, his second fight up at 140 taking place in December of 2022. Lopez is also predicting a KO win for June 10.
Taylor also spoke with Fight Hype, and he said he is still very much motivated to become a two-weight world champion. Southpaw Taylor still wants that big fight with Terence Crawford.
“That’s still an ambition of mine, to become a two-weight world champion,” Taylor said. “Down the line, I’ll be moving up to welterweight and I’ll be chasing to become a two-weight world champion, so whoever’s got the belts I’ll be looking to fight. So, yeah, absolutely. [Lopez] has been shouting a lot of s**t for the last couple of years, shouting my name out. Obviously, I was due to do a rematch with Jack Catterall, then I got an injury and the WBO came in and mandated me to fight Teofimo. So it’s a mandatory fight, this one. But it’s one I was looking to fight anyway. I’m looking forward to it. And I’m looking to knock him out. I can’t see him seeing the final bell. He definitely won’t see the final bell.”
This could be a great one. Both guys are in need not only of a win but also of an impressive, eye-catching performance. Add it all up, and we should get a very good fight on June 10.
Can YOU pick a winner?
TAYLOR – LOPEZ FIGHT CARD
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• Xander Zayas 152.8 lbs vs. Ronald Cruz 152.4 lbs
(Zayas’ NABO & NABF Junior Middleweight Titles — 8 Rounds)
(ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. PT)
• Robson Conçeicão 130.6 lbs vs. Nicolas Polanco 130 lbs
(Junior Lightweight — 10 Rounds)
• Omar Rosario 139.2 lbs vs. Jan Carlos Rivera 138.4 lbs
(Junior Welterweight— 8 Rounds)
• Damian Knyba 261.4 lbs vs. Helaman Olguin 256.8 lbs
(Heavyweight — 8 Rounds)
• Bruce Carrington 126.8 lbs vs. Luis Porozo 126.4 lbs
(Featherweight — 8 Rounds)
• Henry Lebron 129.2 lbs vs. Carlos Ramos 129.6 lbs
(Junior Lightweight — 10 Rounds)