Teofimo Lopez Vs. Steve Claggett and Robeisy Ramirez Vs. Brandon Benitez June 29 on ESPN

WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez defends against #13 Steve Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) on June 29 live on ESPN at the James L. Knight Center in Downtown Miami, Florida. The event begins at 10:00 pm / 7:00 pm PT on ESPN and ESPN

You could argue that the 34-year-old Claggett is just a step above tourney level. With seven losses and no notable wins on his 15-year resume, Claggett is a poor choice to challenge for a world title.

Teofimo’s Confidence Booster

This is another unbeaten fight for former lightweight champion Teofimo (20-1, 13 KOs), who is coming off a 12-round decision over Jamaine Ortiz last February in Las Vegas.

Teofimo was clearly defeated in that fight, handing over a controversial second win in his last three bouts, damaging his popularity even more than he already did after being beaten by George Kambosos Jr. in 2021.

Some may argue that Teofimo’s promoters at Top Rank are matching him with Claggett to keep him winning and to artificially increase his nose diving fame.

By feeding Teofimo a lower-ranked fighter, his chances of winning and looking good are greater, which will increase interest among casual boxing fans, who don’t know that Claggett is underrated and nowhere near the best at 140.

“This is like the Rocky Balboa story of Steve Claggett,” said Teofimo admitting that he is facing a no-hoper ham and running in self-defense willingly rather than face one of the killers who could dethrone him.

“No other fighters wanted to fight me, and I felt that he would not only give me, but also the fans, a great fight to watch,” said Teofimo.

Teofimo is not pretending when he says “no other fighters” are interested in fighting him. There are many competitors at 140 who would jump at the chance to fight Teofimo if he and his promoters at Top Rank are willing to fight them.

Fighters who want to fight Teofimo:

Jamaine Ortiz
Keyshawn Davis
Richardson Hitchins
Gary Antoine Russell
Arnold Barboza Jr.
Sandor Martin
Regis Programs
Elvis Rodriguez
George Kambosos Jr.
Jose Ramirez

Teofimo has looked washed out since losing to Kambosos three years ago, and has failed to live up to the expectations fans and media had of him after suffering an upset over the injured Vasily Lomachenko in 2020.

Robeisy Ramirez vs. Brandon Leon Benitez

Former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (13-2, 8 KOs) will fight for confidence against well-known Brandon Leon Benitez (21-2, 9 KOs) in the 10-round main event on the card.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, Robeisy, lost his WBO 126-lb title in his last fight against the lanky 6’1″ Rafael Espinoza via a 12-round majority decision last December in Pembroke Pines, Florida .

The height, reach and high level of work of Espinoza gave Robeisy great problems. Robeisy had Espinoza down in the fifth, but retired him unsuccessfully in the end.

Espinoza then dominated the later rounds, and dropped Robeisy in the 12th round with several shots. After that knock down, it’s understandable why Top Rank matches Robeisy with a soft touch.

Still, he’s 30 years old, has two losses in his short five-year career, and can’t fight tomato cans for long because he has more than enough experience as a rookie to fight the best again, if only. he doesn’t face someone as tall as the 6’1″ Espinoza.

To beat such a guy, Robeisy will need to sit down a lot with his shots because his novice style of throwing one pot shots failed to work against this volume puncher.