Teofimo Lopez vs Jamaine Ortiz: Preview, Prediction & Betting Odds

It’s Super Bowl LVIII week in Las Vegas, NV, and we are two days away from witnessing a junior welterweight title fight on ESPN. WBO & Ring Magazine champion Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) will face Jamaine Ortiz(17-1-1, 8 KOs) in a matchup that has captured the imagination of the fans with all of the shoulder programming that has been produced for this event. Lopez has been promoting this fight hard, and he looks to cash in with a victory and another boost to his profile.

TEOFIMO LOPEZ IS AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME

Although things seemed a little shaky for Lopez in December 2022 after beating Sandor Martin and asking Gardy Lopez from Top Rank if he still had it, Lopez would come back and prove otherwise to himself and the boxing fans. Lopez would go on to face Josh Taylor in June and put on a masterful performance, which led everyone to believe that he was one of the best fighters in boxing. After that, there was a retirement announcement and a return to boxing, which led to him being elevated to super champion and now facing Ortiz on Thursday.

What does Lopez have to do to win this fight? It’s actually quite simple. He needs to use his excellent feet to keep things on the outside and avoid staying in the pocket too long. Lopez can pop-shot Ortiz all the way to a decision if he chooses to, but something tells us that he will try to entertain the crowd a bit before cruising to a win on the scorecards.

WILL JAMAINE ORTIZ RISE TO THE OCCASION, OR WILL THE LIGHTS BE TOO BRIGHT? 

It wasn’t that long ago when Ortiz was making his way up the ranks and fighting on club shows promoted by CES Boxing as he hoped to get a big break one day. That moment came in May 2023 when it was announced a co-promotion deal was struck between Top Rank and CES for the rights to promote Ortiz. At the time, he was a lightweight. He killed himself to make the weight but came off two impressive outings against former super featherweight champion Jamel Herring, which he won, and Vasiliy Lomachenko, which he lost but performed well enough to get the deal done. Ortiz would face Antonio Moran at 137 pounds, but the idea was that he would move up to 140 for his next fight, and now he’s fighting for the WBO junior welterweight title.

Now Ortiz has the tough task of figuring out Lopez, who seems to be starting his physical prime. Ortiz will have to make it rough and keep the fight on the inside. He will not win a fight trying to keep the fight outside of mid-range, as Lopez’s footwork is too good for him to keep up. If Ortiz can be physical and wear down Lopez, there could be opportunities late in the fight for him to land big combinations in hopes of stopping Lopez.

TEOFIMO LOPEZ VS JAMAINE ORTIZ PREDICTION

Although this will be competitive for the first half of the fight, this one looks to turn the corner in the second half, with Lopez taking over and earning a unanimous decision over Ortiz.

TEOFIMO LOPEZ VS JAMAINE ORTIZ BETTING ODDS

Per BetMGM, Teofimo Lopez is the favorite at -650, and Jamaine Ortiz is the underdog at +450.

Teofimo Lopez: TKO/KO +160; Decision -120

Draw: +2000

Jamaine Ortiz: TKO/KO +1200; Decision +800

TEOFIMO LOPEZ VS JAMAINE ORTIZ DATE, START TIME

• Date: Thursday, February 8
• Start time: 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT
• Main event ringwalks (approx): 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT
• Undercard Stream on ESPN+: 6:25 p.m. ET/ 3:25 p.m. PT

These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights. 

WHAT CHANNEL/STREAM IS TEOFIMO LOPEZ VS JAMAINE ORTIZ?

• U.S.: ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes
• UK:   Sky Sports

TEOFIMO LOPEZ VS JAMAINE ORTIZ FIGHT CARD

• Teofimo Lopez vs. Jamaine Ortiz; For Lopez’s WBO world super lightweight title
• Keyshawn Davis vs. Jose Pedraza; Lightweight
• George Acosta vs. Rene Tellez Giron; Lightweight
• Abdullah Mason vs. Benjamin Gurment; Super lightweight
• Charlie Sheehy vs. Abdel Sauceda; Lightweight
• Javier Martinez vs. Raul Salomon; Middleweight
• Alan Garcia vs. Tomas Ornelas; Super lightweight
• Antonio Zepeda vs. Lemis Isom Riley; Heavyweight
• Art Barrera Jr. vs. Michael Portales; Super lightweight

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is the founder of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms to include online, network TV and promotional companies. He is an American Public University alumnus and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, contributed to FanSidedMMA and ProBoxTV.

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