Teofimo and Xander Take Over Las Vegas

Teofimo Lopez and Xander Zayas Take Over Las Vegas by KO

By Uppercut Magazine staff

(All photos by Al Applerose)

Las Vegas and the bright lights of the casinos served as the backdrop for burgeoning stars Teofimo Lopez and Xander Zayas who violently displayed their particular skill sets to the public and the world with knockout wins.

Now fighting at super lightweight, Lopez (17-1, 13 Kos) stopped Mexico’s Pedro Campa (34-2-1, 23 Kos) in the seventh round and super welterweight Zayas (14-0, 10 Kos) duplicated that with a stoppage of Elias Espadas (22-5, 15 Kos) on Saturday at the Resorts World Las Vegas.

It was a sold out crowd of more than 3,500 fans that saw the Top Rank show including various sports celebrities.

Las Vegas fighter Andres Cortes (18-0, 10 KOs) survived Mexican head buster Abraham Montoya (20-4-1, 14 Kos) in eight rugged and face busting rounds in their super featherweight clash. No round was easy as Montoya forced Cortes to dig deep and into his bad of resources and endurance.

Cortes was caught in the corner by Montoya in the sixth round with a sweeping left hook and avoided hitting the floor because of the ropes. The referee could have called it a knockdown but allowed action to continue. Cortes fought his way out of danger.

Though Cortes won the majority of rounds with right cross pot shots, spins and pot shots from left hooks, he never could fully distance himself from the Mexican ruffian. After eight rounds the judges scored it 79-73 for Cortes.

Middleweight prospect Troy Isley (7-0, 4 Kos) struggle but defeated Victor Toney (6-2-1,5 Kos) by unanimous decision after six rounds. The low action fight saw Isley press and press and Toney diffuse each attack with slippery moves and jab counters. Isley tried to ignite action with some roughhousing but even that proved futile against the non-aggressive Toney. One judge saw it 60-54 and two others 59-55 all for Isley.

Olympic silver medalist Duke Ragan (7-0) was wobbled by Puerto Rico’s D’Angelo Fuentes (7-1, 4 Kos) in a six round featherweight clash. But despite a slow start and getting tagged with some big rights, Ragan was able to survive and rally down the stretch and win by decision 58-56 on all three cards.