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Minutes after the main event ended on Saturday, with the New York crowd still buzzing and the official result unknown, Teofimo Lopez evinced a crisis of confidence. “Do I still got it?” Lopez asked his father and trainer, Teofimo Sr. A fight against Sandor Martin was supposed to catapult Lopez, the former unified champion at 135 pounds, into a world title shot at 140. Instead, it left many, Lopez included, it seems, wondering about his future.
Lopez squeezed out a split decision at Madison Square Garden. A mix of boos and cheers greeted the verdict from the 8,029 fans who just an hour earlier were decidedly in Lopez’s corner. Martin, who burst onto the U.S. boxing scene last year with an upset win over Mikey Garcia, boxed well, moving, counterpunching, even dropping Lopez with a check hook in the second round. Lopez was more assertive, pressing the action, racking up a 31-punch edge in power punches (76-45), per CompuBox and a 20-punch edge (97-77) overall.
