Full Transcript for Teofimo Lopez Becomes 3-Division Champion | Amanda Serrano 50th Win & Matchroom’s Tia Ayton Star

her rhythm, and she was taking big shots on the back foot. She was trying to circle to her right to avoid that overhand as well. And don't get me wrong, Serrano was giving some of her signature bodywork back. But she just looked uncomfortable and unsteady in stretches of the fight. now through the first five rounds, it was clearly Manzur's fight. and round six was the first real shift that we started to see. Serano started to increase her output, putting lovely combinations together, going from the body back to the head, instead of letting Manzor dictate the action. by the eighth, she was the cleaner combination puncher, landing sharper two and three punch sequences, and then the occasional hard body shot, which you could tell were starting to hurt Manzor. Now Manzur began to get sloppy and even more predictable with the single shot counters as the fight advanced. Now up to round eight I had it five three to Manzur But then Serrano came back and closed the gap with the better work, the better combinations and the cleaner ring generalship. And so the fight resulted with Serrano winning by majority decision. She gets to keep her featherweight titles. her 50th win as a pro. Now, while she didn't get the knockout, she stays tied with the great Christy Martin at 32 KOs. and credit to Manzor who forced Serrano to fight for every single round. And look, we know Serrano's coming to the end of her career. This woman has had 55 battles. And she said to herself, these young women are tough and fast and they're coming to take her head off. And believe me, while I'm on a different level, I know that feeling where you're just thinking, my pace, my timing, all of that is just starting to dwindle. so respect to Serrano for staying in the fight. You cannot discredit her for what she's doing for this sport. I want to touch on Jamal Harvey because obviously I'm a huge fan of these dual gender fight cards. And this is a major signing for MVP promotion, who signed him just last year. Now, Jamal Harvey is 23 year old and a 2024 US Olympian. And he has now made it four straight wins as a pro, and this one was a brutal second round stoppage of Hammat Keb Now Harvey came into the pro ranks with sixty-one and eight amateur record. 2021 world champion and also holds a gold from the Pan American Games. He's a 10 time US national champion. And that pedigree shows. Now he was on Keb from the opening bell, from the bodywork, the uppercuts, the constant pressure. and at just two minutes 48 seconds of the second, he landed a clean right hand and followed up with a hook that put Keb away. There was no survival mode, no drama. just a young prospect who already looks ready for bigger stages. So that's a great signing for MVP as Harvey now advances to four and Then we've Brooke Sibrian versus Lupita Medina Now this one was always gonna be personal. Medina turned pro at twenty-two with five junior Olympic titles and is ranked number two on the WBO and IBF rankings at the 105-pound division. She can fight effectively from both stances, switching mid-round, a tool that not many fighters at her weight have accomplished. Now, interestingly, Sibrian found boxing at 26 in a fitness class After having a career at the Wall Street Journal. Now she trained alongside Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez earlier on. And that really shaped her into this pressure fighter that has real output. She had won two USA Boxing National titles and represented El Salvador at the twenty twenty three Central American Games. now this is where it gets interesting because she was a former sparring partner of Medina. So they've both shared rounds with each other. They know each other's style. but Medina went on record publicly calling Sibrian one dimensional. and on Friday night, unfortunately, that one dimensional style beat her. Sibrian walked forward for eight rounds and never stopped. She took the counters and kept coming. She had beautiful body shots, uppercuts on the inside, and a pace that just didn't drop. Now Medina showcased some lovely counterpunching in the opening rounds. she was effectively switching stances. And you could tell this is where she was comfortable. But from round three, this is where things shifted. Once Sibrian dragged her into a sustained dogfight in the second half of round three, Medina couldn't control the onslaught anymore. She was backing up in straight lines, and she was even checking the clock between rounds, which you know at that point a fighter is really feeling the pressure. Sibrian being the pressure fighter dictated the last three rounds. and so while Medina came in as the higher ranked boxer, it didn't matter because the output and the heart of Sibrian did, And she came away with a very accomplished win. Okay, next up we have Roxy Ferdusco, also known as Right Hook Roxy, and Megalina Hernandez. Now this fight could have gone either way. people were calling it a robbery online. And it was a fight I effectively had to go back and rewatch. I had to turn off the commentary. And it's so interesting how much you can be influenced by what the commentators are saying. But when you just go back to watching the pure skill of boxing, you can see things very differently. Now right at Roxy fights out of LA while she just advanced to eight and on the professional side, her amateur career also deserves a mention because she's had a hundred and seven fights with only six losses and twenty one national titles. She remains undefeated as a pro and Friday night she made her MVP debut. Now Hernandez, on the other hand, entered unbeaten, with three of her four wins inside the distance. these were two undefeated fighters, and you can tell They're both still learning the pro game in real time. Hernandez has sparred the likes of Ashley Ann Lazado, who just fought last weekend. And she came in switching stances and she'd real pop in her shots, But Roxy brought the amateur pedigree, composure, and that backhand carries genuine power. The earlier

rounds were certainly a chess match for range finding. Hernandez was switching to orthodox and landing clean back hands initially. Both were largely landing same-time counters with single shots. then Roxy started to find her range better, but needed to be busier. She was stepping out of range, but without actually countering quick enough. Hernandez struggled at times to get her one two landing cleanly and wasn't always turning over her punches. There was a clash of heads earlier on as well, but that didn't slow either woman down. When they both leveled up on the output, I will say Hernandez put more pop behind the three four punch combinations while back in Orthodox. Roxy answered with lovely feints and began finding a home for that backhand. And then in the fifth round, Hernandez switched back to Southpaw and landed a huge jab that busted Roxy's nose. Now Roxy appeared to be tugging at her top. She was looking for a pause from the ref, but that never came, and Hernandez took full advantage of that moment. She was clipping her with a backhand and a big left, while Roxy's lead hand was set low Now the later rounds stayed competitive, but they started to get messy. Roxy was showing much more of the cleaner work work with two on twos and some beautiful overhands. She rattled Hernandez at some points. Now Roxy seems to have this habit of staying in the pocket with no head movement after she lands those combinations, and that ultimately costs her. it was a closely contested fight, and there was a quite a few swing rounds that could have gone either way. So I've got no objection to Roxy's cleaner work and power moments edging it on the cards to a split decision. But Hernandez absolutely proved that she belonged at this level. and that's one that I think is deserving of a rematch. Okay, so to quickly touch on we had Melissa Mortensen versus Mayelli Flores, who's a super exciting fighter who was recently signed by MVP promotion after going up against Ellie Scotney. Now they fought for the vacated WBA super bantamweight title. Again, another fight that sparked a lot of conversation online and a lot of people felt that Mayelli had done enough to take home that win and felt that she was robbed of the decision. Now Mayelli Flores did score a knockdown in the second with a big body shot, but Mortensen was able to adjust from that moment and start to find her range and counter cleanly. I will say she continued to to land the same combination every single time, the backhand lead hook. And there's the things that a judge can score against you when you're getting caught with the exact same clean shots every single time. Mortensen was controlling the distance, but she did sit in the pocket for too long in moments too and exchanged with the pressure fighter. It did result in a split decision on the judge's scorecard and Mortensen takes home the belt and moves to 10 and 0. Now this was a fight I had to re-watch with no sound. And because of that knockdown, I scored

it at best a draw Mortensen or I agreed with one of the judges and scored it 95 to 94 to Mayelli Flores. Next up, we have Avius Griffin versus Jackson Marinez. Now, Avias Griffin is a pressure fighter who doesn't just walk forward, he walks through people. He's got high output, he's heavy-handed, and he's built for attrition. Now, Marinez brought the more polished experience. He shared the ring with Romero, with Richard Comey. and has a recent knockout streak of his own. But he was always going to have to keep Griffin honest at range or get dragged into deep water. Now, the earlier rounds were measured. Marine tried to box and use his experienced edge, but Griffin stayed patient, closed the distance gradually, and started to impose his physicality. By the middle rounds, the pressure was constant. Griffin walking him down, forcing exchanges, making Marinez work every second. And then Griffin turned up the volume and the power in the fifth. He dropped Marinez twice in that round. The second knockdown left the Dominican fighter clearly compromised. His corner had seen enough, and retired him before the sixth round could even start. so for Griffin, that's another stoppage, another statement, He advances to twenty and one with nineteen knockouts. So let's see what he does next in that welterweight division. Okay, and then there was Jully Poca who took her first professional loss to Cinderella Linnear Now, Poca is considered the most followed active female boxer in the world with something like 3.1 million followers, Now it's still very early stages for Jully Poca. This was only her second professional fight. Now she has done a number of crossover fights kind of in the influencer boxing world. And then Cinderella Linier, who fights out at Arlington, Texas, also entered one and So we had two fighters both in very early stages of their career unproven at this level. But for me, like I mentioned on social media after that night, it should have been a draw. Now, Poca started composed. She was really busy with that jab in the earlier rounds. She had really good footwork and she was drawing Linnear in and countering with real power. She was setting traps really nicely too. But then as the fight went on, she started to abandon the jab. She left her chin up on exits and got caught with the same left hook twice, and they were powerful shots that knocked her head back. but honestly, looking back at the tape, There weren't three clean rounds to hand a clear decision to Cinderella. it was a close fight, but it was a debatable decision. And unfortunately Jully took her first loss on record. Okay, now over to Tia May Ayton versus Ellie Helaway over the UK. Now she just turned 20 this week and already fighting for her first title, the Commonwealth Featherweight Belt. She's got the backing of Katie Taylor, and you can absolutely see why. Now, within the fight itself, I always tap into what the corner feedback is between the rounds. And the coaching from Dean Lewis in

Ayton's Corner was absolutely sensational. They really capitalized on our amateur fundamentals, which I love to hear. they reminded her after round one to make sure she was disguising her attacks, to keep edging forward, touching with that lead hand, and then initiate they were just reminding her through the rounds to Make sure she wasn't telegraphing her sequence because she does have a tendency to kind of just walk forward with so much confidence to seek and destroy that it's good to develop those habits earlier on in her career so that when she does start to advance, she's taking those fight tactics with her. and she executed what her corner asked of her so well. You could see when she was disguising her attacks, she was popping that lead hand really nicely to set up the backhand. And it was super clean work from the opening minute. Now I will say in the earlier rounds, Helaway was finding a couple of moments, but not enough of them. she was fighting far too defensively and not enough output to make Ayton think twice. There was one moment in the fight that I absolutely loved. So Ayton landed a heavy backhand late in the round and then closed with a flurry of shots. She was actually blinding Helaway with a lead hand before going to work, down to the body, back up to the head. And then by round six, both the ref and helaway's corner had seen enough, and the fight was called off. And I think just one note for Tia Ayton as she climbs through the ranks and something that Tony Bellews also mentioned in his commentary is that she's willing to take a shot or two to land hers. And I think that's something she just needs to be careful of against a craftier opponent who has real power. It's something that she'll just have to manage effectively as she advances against competitors. Now in her post fight interview, you know, she was lovely and confident and she was she was basically saying she she's ready for any of them. But rightly so, I think the the team are gonna pace her nicely. Eddie Hearn, mentioned even though she's had six knockouts in in seven fights, they'll tier up for British title next and then be on target for a world title contender towards the second half of twenty twenty seven, which is absolutely the right sequencing for Tia. Okay, before we get to the big fight night in Vegas, I did want to touch on the butterfly brawl on the Santa Monica Pier, which was for Teen Cancer America, because two prospects who I follow actually fought on that same card. first up, I wanted to give a shout out to Tommy Hyde, who stopped Vaughan Williams in the fourth. Now Hyde very effectively dropped him three times, twice in the second and once in the third, and the referee saw enough. Hyde moves to 16 0 with 11 knockouts. It was clean, composed, and classy work from the Irishman. I do recommend that you head over and give Tommy Hyde a follow on Instagram. He also covers some great post fight analysis and someone's perspective that I really respect in this sport too. And then we Andy Dominguez, who also got a knockout in the second round. Now, Andy had a tough opening round against Neider Valdez. Commentary, including Sean Porter, actually scored that round to his opponent. but thankfully he came out in the second round and dropped him three times and it was all over. Now even Sean Porter called out the beautiful boxing that he saw from Andy, the shot selection, the exchange, the uppercuts, the hook to the body. It was a clean liver shot that Valdez didn't recover from. And it resulted in a second round knockout for Andy Dominguez. and he advances to fourteen and one with seven knockouts. And that's now four straight wins for our Mexican warrior Andy Dominguez. Okay, and so finally a recap on the fight that we were all waiting for, Rolly Romero versus Tefimo Lopez. Now it resulted in a majority decision. on one of the judges' scorecards it was one fourteen to one fourteen. Another judge's scorecard it was one fifteen to one thirteen. And then on the third judge's scorecard, it was one sixteen to one twelve. So Teofimo Lopez is the new WBA welterweight champion of the world and a three division title holder. Now the fight itself was a chess match early on, which is what they promised us. Lopez stayed on the front foot, was working off the jab and landing smooth combinations. Rolly was looking for that one big shot, the check left hook. And he started to land it in spots and eventually busted Lopez up around the eye. But unfortunately, he never matched the output and never capitalized on those moments of opportunity. Round five was the only big moment for Rolly when he finally timed a check hook. And followed it with a heavy backhand that put Lopez on unsteady legs and opened up that big cut. Lopez briefly went down, right? He wobbled on his feet, like I'm full sure his knee touched the canvas at that point, but it was ruled a slip. And for a moment the fight felt like it could it could tilt. But instead of pressing the advantage, Rolly drifted back into the same cagey low output approach. Even Ismail Salas kept pleading from the corner. are you listening to me? The only way you win this if you let your hands go. But Roley never fully committed to going through the gears. Having Milton LaCroix in Lopez's corner gave him a steady technical voice, and it's the kind of solid cornerman everyone knows Teo benefits from when the other voice gets loud. We all know Teo's dad can be disruptive. he even said during the fight that Tio needed that big shot in round five to wake him up. but credit where it's due though. The old man was effective on the night, repeatedly telling his son to keep that right hand tight as Rolly kept hunting for that lead check hook. From the sixth onwards, Lopez controlled the fight. He mixed levels, stayed disciplined, and closed the show with a sharp Superman hook in the 11th, while remaining composed in the 12th. The scorecards were closer than the actual action. It was 116, 112, 115, 113, and 114-114. But Lopez was the clearer, busier, and smarter fighter over at the distance. and resulted in him becoming a three-division world champion. now let's just touch on Role's performance and mindset for a second. A few weeks ago at the press conference, from my perspective, it already looked like Rolly had given Teo the belt. And not necessarily in his words, just in his energy. He was showing him way too much respect. But maybe there was something deeper in that he wasn't believing in himself. because last night when even Salas couldn't get him to open up the way a champion needed to, when the big shots are landing and hurting the other man, They're the moments that you have to capitalize on. Now, for context, Rolly came to boxing late. He didn't glove up till he was 16, and after a brief amateur career, he turned pro at 21. Now that's a much shorter runway than most world-level fighters get to before they're standing across from someone like Teofimo Lopez. There's a belief system that has to be built when you come in that late, And I'm not sure Rolly fully believes he belongs at the very top for the long haul. and sure, beating Ryan Garcia got him there, but staying at the top requires a different level of internal conversation. He didn't have to be fully present for the possibility of losing the belt the hard way, Because he never fully stepped on the gas when the moments were there. And Lopez clearly didn't need to be spectacular, he just needed to be consistent and aggressive enough, and the judges gave him the majority decision. Now I'm not saying that's what happened, but I am asking, did Roley show up last night believing he could win? or was some part of him already bracing for the loss? Now I'd love to hear what you all saw. So there we have it. MVP fight card was action-packed with great matchmaking. We had rising talent from the UK with a clean stoppage from Tia Ayton. And we had two more on Santa Monica Pier. And in Vegas, the biggest fight of the weekend went to the scorecards. and look, some fighters ooze confidence and it shows in their performance, while others still have to convince themselves they deserve the moment. Now next weekend we have the most anticipated women's boxing showdown between Michaela Mayer and Chantel Cameron from Birmingham, England. And I am telling you, you don't want to miss that fight because it is going to be a fight contender of the year. So that's it for me. I've been your host, Sarah Cunningham. I appreciate you all tuning in and we'll be back breaking down more fights real soon. Keep putting in that work between the rounds.