Pedro Campa Cleared To Face Teofimo Lopez, Set For August 13 In Las Vegas
Teofimo Lopez Jr. will return to the city that officially crowned him a king.
Boxing Scene has confirmed that plans are finalized for Lopez’s August 13 ring return to relocate to Las Vegas from its originally targeted South Florida destination. The former lineal and unified lightweight champion will face Mexico’s Pedro Campa at Resorts World Las Vegas, atop an ESPN telecast that will mark Lopez’s official run in the junior welterweight division, as previously reported in separate breaking news stories by BS.com and ESPN.com.
Top Rank was not able to comment on the event which was not yet formally announced.
While not directly related to the announcement delay, Campa’s placement on the show was pending approval from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. BS.com has learned that Campa was in fact cleared for the fight, which will serve as his first fight in the U.S. since December 2015 and just second overall outside of Mexico.
Brooklyn’s Lopez (16-1, 12KOs)—who represented Honduras in the 2016 Rio Olympics—has not fought since his split decision loss to George Kambosos last November 27 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City. Lopez suffered his first career knockdown in the opening round, rallying back to drop Kambosos in round ten but unable to fully close the gap on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
The loss ended Lopez’s 23-month reign of at least one title, including 13-month stay as the lineal and unified titlist after outpointing Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020. The bout took place at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, marking his first fight in boxing’s modern day capital city since his November 2016 pro debut on a Manny Pacquiao undercard at Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV campus.
His upcoming fight with Campa marks a new milestone in Sin City for Lopez, who enters the ring following a loss for the first time in his career.
The event marks a massive leap in competition for Campa (33-1-1, 22KOs) The 30-year-old from Hermosillo, Mexico is unbeaten in his last seven starts since suffering his lone career defeat in 2017. The fight will mark the second stateside appearance for Campa, who scored a ten-round decision over Aaron Herrera on a December 2015 show in Glendale, California which was co-promoted by Top Rank.
In his most recent appearance, Campa stopped unbeaten Carlos Sanchez Valadez in the third round of their March 19 bout in Juarez, Mexico. The win was his second straight over a previously unbeaten opponent, which assisted his cause in getting approved by the Nevada commission.
Campa emerged as the frontrunner for the opponent in Adrien Broner’s comeback fight last February 20 in Uncasville, Connecticut. The fight went to Jovanie Santiago, whom Broner outpointed over twelve rounds. Campa instead fought that month in his Hermosillo hometown, where he returned last August.
Lopez will fight for just the third time in as many years. The rate of inactivity comes in stark contrast to his 2018 Prospect of the Year campaign when he fought four times, as he did in a 2019 run that ended with his knocking out Richard Commey in the second round to win the IBF lightweight title in December 2019. The win over Lomachenko earned 2020 Fighter of the Year honors for Lopez, who also claimed the WBA/WBO titles and vacant lineal championship with the win.
