There have been confirmed reports that mandatory challenger Teofimo Lopez and junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor had “signed to a contract” to meet and fight on June 10 in New York City, just one day before the WBO’s prescribed date.

The venue for the big fight has been decided. At Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, the United States, Josh Taylor, and Teofimo López will square off on June 10, 2023.

Taylor vs Lopez: Tale of the Tape

Taylor, the previous undisputed junior welterweight champion, competes at 140 pounds against Lopez, the former undisputed lightweight champion. If everything goes according to plan, Taylor will conclude a 15.5-month layoff. Since dominating Regis Prograis in 2019, he has not competed more than twice in a calendar year, and he is now retracting his earlier claims that he could not easily hit 140 anymore. Due to his narrow victory over Sandor Martin in their last eliminator, Lopez might not even be in this predicament. Leaving that aside, though, the fight ought to be entertaining so long as Lopez does not allow Taylor to get ahead and go into cruise control as he did with Jose Ramirez.

Teófimo López is 5 cm shorter than Josh Taylor, who stands at 178 cm. Taylor has a reach advantage of 3 cm above Lopez’s 174 cm in addition to having a longer reach (177 cm). Taylor is outclassed by Lopez by 2 cm in terms of the ape index. With a 19-0 record in victories, Taylor enters this battle unbeaten (13 KOs). In his previous bout, where he defeated Jack Catterall in a 12-round split decision, he had competed for 1 year, 3 months, and 15 days. Furthermore, López enters with an 18-1 record (13 KOs). His most recent match was a six-month-ago split-decision victory over Sandor Martin. Teofimo López uses the orthodox stance whereas Josh Taylor uses the southpaw stance. Taylor will turn 32 years old and five months on the day of the bout. In 10 months, López will turn 25.

What are the odds and predictions of the fight?

This summer’s fight for the junior lightweight championship features Josh Taylor as the small betting favorite. Lopez returned with +100 odds when the betting lines opened this week, but pundits rate Taylor as the -130 favorite to defeat him. Following a formal WBO order for Taylor to face Lopez for the 140-pound title, the odds were made available. Taylor’s obligatory championship defense has been outlined in a letter to Top Rank, the organization that promotes both boxers, outlining the specifics of the match.

Like others in the past, such big fights usually attract a lot of bettors who utilize favorable odds to place their bets on trust platforms. As the match is going to take place in one of the biggest and most iconic arenas in the world; Madison Square, it will attract a lot of supporters worldwide. As a result, these fans can use the best betting sites, which are trusted options that offer various markets.

Indeed, there may be more eyes than ever on the squared circle in the Big Apple, as sports betting has only recently been made legal in the state. A boxing match of the quality of these two opponents will only likely attract even more people who are looking to enhance their passion for the sport now they are able to wager on it and enjoy protections.

How have both fighters been performing so far?

In Scotland in February of last year, Taylor faced Catterall to defend his undisputed championship. Taylor won on a split decision, but the judging process was marred by controversies. The pairing with Lopez was initially considered for the U.K. because 32-year-old Taylor is a star in Scotland. Taylor is going to the United States for his fifth fight instead. He beat Jose Ramirez by unanimous decision in May 2021 to take the uncontested championship, which was his most recent victory in the United States and also his finest victory overall. For the sake of avoiding obligatory challengers who would have blocked the rematch with Catterall, Taylor gave up three of his four belts. For each boxer, this fight serves as a sort of return. Taylor has only engaged in combat once since defeating Ramirez. The triumph over Catterall was also one of the most divisive in recent memory.

In boxing, Taylor is the second Scotsman and first from Great Britain to hold all four belts simultaneously. The victory versus Jose Ramirez in May 2021, in which he finished as the -175 betting favorite, was a 12-round unanimous decision victory for him. When Taylor defeated Ivan Baranchyk in the World Boxing Super Series lightweight semifinal, he won the IBF lightweight title. Taylor is popularly referred to as the Tartan Tornado due to his fierce boxing style. His victory in the WBSS championship bout against Regis Prograis was triumphant, resulting in him snatching both the Ring and IBF lightweight titles from Prograis’ grasp!

Lopez stunned the boxing community four fights ago when he defeated Vasyl Lomachenko in a contest for the lightweight championship. Lopez went into the battle as a +330 betting underdog against Lomachenko, who at the time was the best boxer pound-for-pound in the league. Before facing Lopez, Loma had won 13 straight world title fights and was utterly overwhelming his opponents. Teofimo outclassed Lomachenko and won by unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 117-111, and 116-112, establishing himself as “The Takeover.”

Since George Kambosos’ victory over Lopez at the Hulu Theater in 2021’s Upset of the Year, Lopez, one of the most charismatic and gifted young fighters in the sport, has come under fire for his underwhelming performances in his two fights at 140 pounds. Lopez lost the four belts he had won from Lomachenko in that fight. He defeated Sandor Martin in a closely contested decision.

Since they started trading jabs, Taylor and Lopez have been headed toward a collision. Ahead of his fight with Martin, Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs) most recently threatened to finish Taylor.

Taylor first needs to heal from another injury fully. Torn plantar fascias are regarded as extremely painful injuries since they connect the heel bone and toes to form the foot’s arch. Before Lopez’s defeat to Kambosos, Taylor and Lopez were both listed together by weight. After the performance against Catterall, Taylor was also removed from the roster.