Terrence Crawford fights back at the start of defense, and Teofimo Lopez struggles for the win

Teofimo Lopez suffered a sudden second-round knockout, but earned a controversial 10-round victory over Sandor Martin on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Judge scored it 95-94 in favor of Martín, but it was overturned by scores of 96-93 and 97-92 for López.

“You were running the whole time,” Lopez told Martin afterward. “Every time you land on that counter, I hit you. That’s why you’ve been running. That was such a boring fight. I can’t believe it. I need a better dance partner… You’ve been dancing and running.”

Here is a summary of the fight

In Omaha, a dynamic combination showed that Terrence “Bud” Crawford is still one of the best lbs in boxing. In front of a raucous hometown crowd, Crawford knocked down David Avanesian with a sixth-round TKO at the CHI Health Center.

Placing a left uppercut followed by a textbook right uppercut Avanesian on his back, he quickly ended a tough fight with Crawford. With the win, Crawford retained his WBO welterweight title.

“I started picking up pace and planted my foot and hooked him,” Crawford said in the post-fight interview on BLK Prime.

Here is a summary of the fight

Results in New York

Jared Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs) defeated Jerry Forrest (26-6-2, 20) by TKO in the second round.

Anderson announced his arrival as a heavyweight contender with a two-round win over goalkeeper Forrest.

The referee nearly stopped the fight during the first round when Anderson caught Forrest in the corner and threw punches non-stop. Anderson landed 114 punches in the first round and was down on 54. Forrest was in serious trouble again in the second round. Anderson hit him with a flurry of punches that doubled him up, and the referee intervened as he was about to hit the canvas. The stop came at 1:34.

Anderson, 23, said he would like to take on an opponent who is ranked in the top 15 of the four sanctioning bodies, naming Philip Herjovic, Frank Sanchez, Dillian White and Daniel Dubois.

“We have to fight those battles,” said Anderson, who fights out of Toledo, Ohio.

Jared Anderson with a holiday entrance 🎄# Lopez Martin pic.twitter.com/DYyXsSkA0f

—ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) December 11, 2022

Forest established themselves as the league’s regents last year with back-to-back draws against Michael Hunter and Jilly Zhang, a fight many believe Forest won. The 34-year-old from Newport News, Virginia, lost a lopsided decision to former title challenger Kubrat Pulev in May.

What’s Next: Any of the opponents Anderson mentioned would be legitimate checks for the sport’s best heavyweight prospect. He had clearly lived up to Contender status, and a fight against a world-class opponent could be next.

Xander Zayas (15-0, 10 KOs) defeated Alexis Salazar (24-5, 9 KOs) via unanimous decision.

One of the best in boxing, Zayas continued his development with a unanimous decision victory over Salazar in a junior welterweight bout. Scores: 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73.

“I feel like we can improve everything,” said Zayas.

The Puerto Rican unleashed his impressive offensive arsenal on Salazar, who did little to dissuade him. Zayas focused much of his offense on the body with 71 Connections. Zayas has now gone the eight-round distance in two of his last three fights.

The garden exploded for @tweet And the @sugardiaz39 🇵🇷 pic.twitter.com/Fc0RMYkkMp

—ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) December 11, 2022

Salazar has now lost two of his last three fights, including a third-round TKO loss against middleweight contender Carlos Adams.

What’s Next: Zayas will likely continue to fight this level of opposition. It’s raw and it takes experience. At only 20 years old, there’s no rush.

Keyshawn Davis (7-0, 5 KOs) defeated Juan Carlos Burgos (35-7-3, 21 KOs) via unanimous decision.

Davis was undefeated with a unanimous decision victory over Burgos. The Olympic silver medalist won with scores of 80-77 on all three scorecards.

Davis, who made it past the sixth round for the first time, hit Burgos several times with body shots and outscored his opponent 247-48.

Burgos, 34, has fought three times for the world championship title, but has always come up empty. In 2018, the Mexican went 10 round distance with Devin Haney, the current undisputed lightweight champion.

Davis, 23, from Norfolk, Virginia, is one of the best in boxing.

Keyshawn the truth has tried to tell you that he is one of them 🤷🏾‍♂️

– ShakurStevenson December 11, 2022

What’s Next: Davis is clearly ready for better competition. Burgos was easily the most experienced opponent of Davis’ career, but failed the Davis Test by distance. However, the past veteran gave Davis valuable runs. Expect Keyshawn to fight three or four times in 2023 as his competition gradually increases, which will see him bring up the championship title in 2024.

consequences

• Joe Ward (8-1, 4 KOs) defeated Frederic Golan (12-2, 10 KOs) via unanimous decision.

• Damian Knepa (10-0, 6 KOs) defeated Emilio Salas (7-4-1, 3 KOs) by TKO in the second round.

• Tiger Johnson (7-0, 5 KOs) defeated Mike Ohan Jr. via 5th round TKO

will come later:

In Omaha, Nebraska

• Title fight: Terrence Crawford vs. David Avanesian, 12 rounds, for the WBO welterweight title in Crawford

• Chris Cyborg vs. Gabby Holloway, 4 rounds, women’s super welterweight