On The Watch “It’s All About Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin”

WBC Junior Lightweight Eliminator

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Main Event between Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 Kos) and Sandor Martin (40-3, 13 Kos) at Madison Square Garden, New York wasn’t quite the “TAKEOVER” by Teofimo that the fans in attendance expected.

Teofimo was inside that squared circle with a slick defensive southpaw in Sandor who was able to defuse and frustrate Lopez all night long. What Teofimo had in mind did not unfold as planned. The “game plan” constructed by Teofimo’s corner never really got a chance to see the light of day.

Sandor hadn’t come to New York just to lay down for Teofimo, as a matter of fact it was Sandor who actually dropped Teofimo for a quick 8 count in the second round forcing Lopez to step his game up from that point on.

Lopez tried round by round but it was painfully obvious that frustration was getting the best of him as Sandor boxed and moved disabling Lopez from ever catching a proper flow throughout the bout.

Although Teofimo was the aggressor of the two combatants inside that squared circle, Lopez’s body language showed me he was the defeated fighter, irritated that he wasn’t able to get Sandor out of there.

After 10 fully completed rounds, the Judges at hand scored it 97-92 and 96-93 for Lopez and the third Judge 95-94 for Martin, giving the split decision to Teofimo Lopez.

Although Teofimo won the bout, the lack of focus and confidence displayed by Lopez last night lets me know that he’s going to have to step his game up in a major way if he still has aspirations of ever being a full fledged Champion in the Junior Lightweight Division because them “Boys” at the top of the food chain do not play with their food and this version of Teofimo is looking like food ready to be taken.

Just my thoughts.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Mikey Garcia vs Sandor Martin.”

Welterweight Showdown

Last night’s Matchroom/DAZN Main Event at the Chuckchansi Park, Fresno, CA, between former 4-Division World Champion Mikey Garcia (40-2, 30 Kos) and virtually unknown EBU European Super Lightweight Champion Sandor Martin (39-2, 13 Kos) was a perfect example of a cherry pick gone wrong. Real Talk!

A lot of people lost B.I.G. last night when they expected Mikey to have an easy stay-busy fight in front of his home crowd but then soon found out that Sandor wasn’t coming to lay down without a fight.

This was by far Sandor’s biggest moment of his career and he wasn’t about to drop the ball on the biggest stage with the lights and cameras all focussed on him. Sandor and his team came up with the perfect “game plan” which he executed to a “T”, offsetting the surprised Garcia round by round boxing and counterpunching, never letting Mikey get comfortable enough inside that squared circle.

Mikey’s usual punch output connection rate was non-existent at times and he was getting countered with some heavy, precise punch combinations that kept him from settling into any type of an offensive rhythm.

Mikey, the veteran boxer that he is, was shockingly getting outboxed by Sandor who was gaining more and more confidence as the rounds were piling up. Mikey had himself a few good looks at times but not enough momentum to disrupt Sandor’s aggressive approach.

After 10 full rounds of action the Judges scored it 95-95, 97-93, 97-93 all in favor of the underdog Sandor Martin.

The right combatant won this bout hands down. Mikey simply didn’t do enough in my eyes to secure the win. Maybe the long layoff played a part in his lackluster performance but my personal opinion is that Mikey simply overlooked his opponent and paid the price inside that squared circle.

That being said, I tip my “B” hat to Sandor for sticking with the “game plan’ and pulling off one the best wins of his career to date. You touched down in the United State for the first time in your career and left a lasting impression with a great victory.

Congratulations Sandor you truly earned this one, job well done.

Blaze