Was Taylor's Performance Against Jack Caterall a Fluke?
It's safe to say that Josh Taylor's last trip to the ring was not his best stuff. He seemed to struggle to make the 140-pound limit and even said that his next fight would likely not be in the light-welterweight division.
Taylor narrowly defeated Caterall by split decision in his native Scotland.
Taylor was later stripped of his WBA light-welterweight belt when he refused a mandatory title defense against Alberto Puello. Yet he signed on defend his other two belts against Lopez in this spot.
Maybe he just doesn't like Lopez. Maybe he's changed his mind about fighting at 140 pounds. Either way, he's going to have to prove that he can still make the cut and deliver a good performance.
Lopez has his own questions to answer about rising to the occasion, but the fact that Taylor stayed in the weight class to fight Lopez is an interesting subplot in itself.
Can Lopez Back Up The Talk?
Lopez is not one to shy away from stirring up some controversy. He is quite the talker and has definitely tried to get under his opponent's skin this time around.
But can he back it up?
At this point, it's hard to know what to make of Lopez. Much like Taylor, he's dealt with his own form of inconsistency.
When Lopez stunned Vasiliy Lomachenko back in 2020, it looked like he was headed for stardom. He retained his IBF lightweight title while claiming Lomachenko's WBA, WBO and The Ring titles and keeping his undefeated record.
He followed that up with a split-decision loss to George Kambosos Jr. While he knocked out Pedro Campa in his bounce-back fight, he only beat Sandor Martin by split decision.
It's an odd question to ask of a 25-year-old fighter, but it's fair to wonder if he still has "it." At the very least, it's fair to wonder if he has a future as a titleist at 140 pounds.
