Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez Jr Odds: Champ Picked to Win

WBO Super Lightweight Title Fight

New York hosts the biggest boxing fight this week as Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez odds suggest it will be Taylor emerging victorious.

However, there isn’t much between them with boxing odds, and on paper, it looks like a close contest.

Lopez is on the comeback trail following a loss in 2021 to George Kambosos Jr, but Taylor has yet to face defeat at 19-0.

Biggest Test for Taylor

The British fighter has faced his fair share of tough fighters, but there was a time when Lopez Jr was considered one of the best in the world.

Taylor comes off impressive victories over Jose Carlos Ramirez and Jack Catterall. We were more impressed with the win over Ramirez because it came in Las Vegas, and fighting in the U.S. isn’t easy for a British fighter.

He won a close unanimous decision 114-112 across the board before beating Caterall by a split decision, so he’s only just holding onto his lightweight titles.

The latest boxing news sees Taylor looking for a knockout performance.

“The way I think he’s going to fight, we’ll put him out of there early,” Taylor said. “But if it goes the other way, which I think it might do as well, it’ll be a boxing match, a clever boxing match but nothing that I’m going to be surprised with.

“I’ve watched him quite a bit in the lead-up to this fight and I think I know what I’m expecting. But whatever he brings, I’m more than ready for.”

Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez Jr odds have Taylor at -180 to win, which is a fair assessment of his ability. Bettors wouldn’t want him any shorter, but he deserves to be favored as the champion and the undefeated fighter.

Lopez Jr is an enigmatic fighter who can produce anything in the ring, so the danger of getting knocked out is there.

Taylor needs to avoid getting clipped early, and he should have the fitness edge in the later rounds.

Lopez Back to His Best

It wasn’t long ago when Lopez Jr defeated Vasyl Lomachenko to claim the IBF, WBA, and WBO lightweight titles, but a lot has changed since 2020.

He might have had legitimate excuses for his loss to Kambosos Jr, primarily a heart condition, but you never know what to believe in the boxing world.

Saturday’s +150 underdog was in the ring nine months later when knocking out Pedro Campa, who was 34-1-1, so not exactly a pushover. It was a good performance, but merely a stepping stone back to the top.

The real test came against Sandor Martin (40-2), and although winning by split decision, he passed the test. One judge had him winning 97-92, but another had him losing 94-95. It was a controversial call, but he emerged victorious.

He now faces Taylor, who is the current champion and someone who should put Lopez Jr to the test. Lopez Jr has all the talent to reclaim his WBO title, but there is always some excuse, and that’s not what bettors want to hear.

There have been concerns about his mental health approaching the fight.

“I’m at peace, man,” Lopez said. “I don’t have a parasite sucking me dry going home. I think that’s what it was, man. People were on the run for their money now. For five years I was dealing with that. I had to learn along the way. God made me go through life. Made me go through the cycle of it. Still, have my soul, still have my mind, still have my body here with me.”

Whatever, or whoever, it was causing Lopez Jr strife, it’s apparently in the rear window. That could make for a dangerous fighter, and if Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez Jr odds are anything to go by, it could come down to who wins the late rounds.


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