Jamaine Ortiz was the “Showman” in his first world title fight against WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.
The Technician executed his fight plan to perfection: darting in and out with quick combinations, feinting, and countering effectively. He used movement and speed to puzzle and frustrate one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The only thing Ortiz didn’t do was win a decision in the eyes of the judges.
“It was a masterful performance,” said CES Boxing founder Jimmy Burchfield, Sr. “He outboxed Lopez from the beginning. Jamaine outshined the showman in his hometown and then he was robbed of the decision.
“It’s shame when a fighter loses a decision like that after putting on such a boxing clinic. As far as I’m concerned, we beat Teofimo Lopez and we’re ready to challenge the other champions in the division.”
Closely guarding his gameplan throughout fight week, ‘The Technician’ came out as a southpaw from the opening bell and never switched to orthodox. Despite having fought southpaws the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Josh Taylor and Sandor Martin throughout his career, Lopez seemed unable to hit Ortiz cleanly and was equally ineffective at cutting off the ring.
“I stuck to the gameplan,” said a dejected Ortiz moments after the decision. “He couldn’t hit me. I was making him miss all night. I was keeping him at bay with the jab. I was countering with the check hook. He wasn’t landing any shots on me.”
Team Ortiz devised a plan based on Lopez being ineffective in the role of aggressor. The game plan paid dividends immediately, as Teofimo often found himself punching air and being made to pay with counter right hooks.
“Like I said the whole week, he gets frustrated,” said Ortiz of his opponent’s temperament. “He can’t control himself. I know how to control myself and I knew he couldn’t. That was the game plan: get him frustrated and make him lose control. He was throwing wild, I was making him miss, it was part of the game plan, and it worked.”
That’s not to say that Ortiz fought off the back foot all night. There were several instances throughout the contest when Lopez waved Ortiz in, and Jamaine obliged, tagging up the Brooklyn native with rapid-fire combinations.
After 12 rounds, the only real damage that ‘The Technician’ suffered, other than the widely booed decision, was a cut on his left eye from a headbutt in round 7.
“I believe I won the fight,” said Ortiz to a group of reporters afterward. “I got him out of his game plan. He was frustrated. I was in control. He was missing wildly, and I was countering him. What can I say? It’s politics as usual.”
Several high-profile boxers agreed, taking to social media in the early hours of Friday morning to voice their opinions.
“People gotta understand the game is called ‘BOXING’ and not ‘FIGHTING’,” wrote undisputed welterweight champion Terrence Crawford. “Hit and not get hit. But I guess y’all don’t know what that means, because when y’all see a fighter boxing the first thing y’all say is he’s running.”
“Beautiful boxing by Ortiz,” echoed former 2-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter. “Doing exactly what he needs to do. It’s like a video game. If you can’t stop my play why the hell would I pick a different play?”
Undefeated junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr. summed it up best: “Ortiz boxed well. Congratulations. Hopefully they don’t rob you”.
“I came up on the short end of the stick once again,” lamented Ortiz. “Obviously we’ll go back to the drawing board, make some adjustments, and come back for another title shot. The fans know what happened. The media knows, my team knows. The whole world probably saw it my way, but the decision is already made. Boxrec and history will say that he won, but hopefully we get a rematch and I’ll make it more of a clear decision next time around.”
Jamaine Ortiz may not be coming home with the official win, but the fans, his peers and the world saw the Worcester native put on a boxing clinic as he showed up ‘The Showman’ in his own backyard.
