In front of a sold-out crowd of 5,312 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Teofimo Lopez (11-0, 9 KOs) showed why, at age 21, he is the sport's fastest rising star, knocking out Mason Menard with a right hand at only 44 seconds of the opening round. Menard (34-4, 24 KOs) fell face-first, and the fight was immediately waved off.
"I knew he was a tough fighter. I knew he could fight," Lopez said. "I wanted to test him, and I took a chance early in the fight. I know he trained hard, and he didn't want it to go that way. But this is 'The Takeover.' 'The Takeover' has begun.
"In 2019, I will be a world champion. That's a guarantee."
Emanuel Navarrete beat the long odds and stunned the rising superstar, Isaac Dogboe, via unanimous decision to win the WBO junior featherweight world title. The scores (116-112 2X, 115-113) reflected the action, as Navarrete was the aggressor throughout the fight (photos by Mikey Williams).
Navarrete (26-1, 22 KOs) stopped the streaking momentum of Dogboe (20-1, 14 KOs), who was making his second title defense.
WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko wanted to unify lightweight world titles. After 12 rounds, he got his wish, although WBO champion Jose Pedraza sure didn't make it easy and halted Lomachenko's eight-bout knockout streak in the process.
Lomachenko (12-1 9 KOs,) defeated Pedraza (25-2, 12 KOs) via unanimous decision. Scores were 119-107 and 117-109 2X.
It was tactical fight, as Pedraza's long arms kept Lomachenko at bay for much of the night. In the 11th round, Lomachenko, turned up the heat, scoring a pair of body shot knockdowns as Pedraza barely survived the round.
For Lomachenko, it's on to the next challenge.
