Jamaine Ortiz couldn’t defeat Vasiliy Lomachenko, but the undeterred underdog was certain that he accomplished something Thursday night that one of the most skillful southpaws in boxing history couldn’t do.

Ortiz, naturally a right-handed boxer, exclusively fought from a southpaw stance, displayed discipline while executing his game plan, frustrated Teofimo Lopez and believed he did enough to upset the former unified lightweight champion in their 12-round, 140-pound championship match in Las Vegas. Judges Tim Cheatham (115-113), David Sutherland (115-113) and Steve Weisfeld (117-111) all favored Lopez’s persistent aggression, however, after he spent most of their boring bout chasing his elusive challenger around the ring.

Lopez trailed by the same score, 86-85, through nine rounds on the cards of Cheatham and Sutherland. Those two judges scored each of the last three rounds for Lopez, which enabled him to avoid another upset defeat 26 months after Australian underdog George Kambosos Jr. beat him by split decision in their 12-round lightweight title fight in November 2021.

The 26-year-old Lopez, who entered the ring as a 7-1 favorite according to DraftKings sportsbook, didn’t do much offensively and failed to cut off the ring against Ortiz, who was masterful defensively in a main event ESPN televised from Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) nevertheless successfully made his first defense of the WBO junior welterweight title he won from Josh Taylor nearly eight months ago.

Las Vegas’ Lopez became a two-weight world champion when he impressively, unanimously outpointed the slightly favored Scottish southpaw June 10 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lopez was vastly less effective offensively Thursday night and failed to build on the momentum he regenerated by beating Taylor.

Ortiz, of course, didn’t mount much offense, either. CompuBox unofficially credited Ortiz for landing just two more punches overall than Lopez (80-of-409 to 78-of-364).

An incredulous Lopez crudely insulted fans that booed during his post-fight interview with ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna. He also blamed Ortiz for the lack of action throughout the second forgettable fight ESPN aired on a Thursday night from Las Vegas in less than three months.

“We cannot, for one second, claim these people, these fighters, that don’t wanna come and fight,” Lopez said. “You go to blood, sweat and tears, the three code of conduct, Sugar Ray Robinson Award. If you ain’t ready for this life, get the f*** out of my sport. I am a champion. I bleed for this, I sweat for this and I cry for this every time.”  

The 27-year-old Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) has lost only to Lopez and Lomachenko, the three-division champion Lopez upset by unanimous decision in October 2020 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Ukraine’s Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) overcame a slow start and outpointed Ortiz by unanimous decision in another 12-round bout that took place in October 2022 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Ortiz, of Worcester, Massachusetts, failed Thursday night not only in his bid to win a world title, but in his shot to avenge his close loss to Lopez in the 132-pound final at the 2015 National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions.

Ortiz wasn’t entertaining, but his style was effective and lured Lopez into doing the same thing round after round. Lopez expressed disappointment during and after their bout because Ortiz wouldn’t engage with him.

“Hey, listen, I tried my best to do what I can for the people,” Lopez said. “I even tried to box, going backwards, and [Ortiz] did not wanna commit.”

Lopez attempted to land the type of punch he needed to knock out Ortiz during the 12th and final round, but Ortiz craftily defended himself yet again and made it to the final bell. Ortiz did trade with Lopez briefly before the final bell sounded to end a bout that didn’t entertain fans in attendance or the viewing audience.

After a 10th round in which he boxed well off of his back foot, Ortiz landed a straight left about 35 seconds into the 11th round. Lopez began the 11th round by connecting with a right hand about seven seconds into it, but he otherwise failed to land clean punches on Ortiz.

A straight left by Ortiz landed a little less than 30 seconds into the ninth round. The disciplined challenger continued to slip Lopez’s punches in the ninth round and seemingly built upon his lead.

Ortiz made Lopez reset his feet after landing a right hook a few seconds after the midway mark of the eighth round. Lopez mostly followed Ortiz around the ring during the eighth round and missed with his punches.

Ortiz landed a left with just under a minute to go in the seventh round. Lopez later landed two right uppercuts toward the end of the seventh round.

An accidental clash of heads opened a cut around Ortiz’s left eye barely a minute into the seventh round. Dock called for a brief break, so that a ringside doctor could examine Ortiz before he allowed the action to continue.

Lopez backed away from Ortiz just after the halfway point of the sixth round because Ortiz wouldn’t engage with him. Ortiz briefly moved forward, but he went back to boxing off his back foot soon thereafter.

The crowd began to grow restless due to the lack of action toward the end of the sixth round.

Ortiz remained on his back foot throughout the fifth round and slipped most of Lopez’s punches. Ortiz didn’t land many punches during those three minutes, but he exhibited ring generalship and defended himself well.

Lopez moved into a corner and waved Ortiz forward with 45 seconds on the clock in the fourth round. Ortiz obliged and landed a right to Lopez’s head, but Lopez fired back and landed a right hand of his own as both boxers let their hands go.

Lopez’s left hook caught Ortiz a few seconds before the midway mark of the fourth round.

Ortiz grazed Lopez with a right uppercut in an exchange with just over 1:20 remaining in the third round. Lopez caught Ortiz with his right hand when Ortiz was briefly backed against the ropes with 15 seconds to go in the third round.

Ortiz landed a straight left that backed up Lopez less than 20 seconds into the second round. Lopez pressed the action for the remainder of the second round, but he had trouble landing clean punches on Ortiz until his right hand connected with just over 15 seconds to go in it.

Ortiz, an orthodox boxer, began their fight in a southpaw stance. Lopez landed a right hand with about 1:15 to go in the first round, but both boxers were careful during those three opening minutes and missed most of their punch attempts.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.