NEW YORK (JULY 16, 2018)–Teofimo Lopez shined in a major step up bout as he dominated William Silva by scoring a 6th round stoppage in their lightweight bout that was the co-feature on ESPN.

The bout took place on Saturday night at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.

In round one, Lopez dumped Silva with a left hook.  Silva was bleeding from the nose,  In round five, Lopez landed several hard hooks to the bloodied Silva, and then dumped Silva to the canvas in the corner.

Lopez came out in round six by landing three left hooks and a right that dropped Silva and the bout was called at 15 seconds.

Silva who came in with a record of 25-1, and is only loss was to Felix Verdejo on HBO, had never been knocked down before the fighter known as “Gordo” dropped him three times.

Lopez is now 10-0 with 8 knockouts.  Silva is 25-2.

“I know everything is set up by the jab,” said Lopez.  “The jab is the most important punch.  I was playing with his mind.  I was setting him up by letting him get comfortable and then to land the big shot.  I hurt my hands, early in the fight but you prepare yourself for the worst possible. I just put everyone on notice that I’m coming for those world title at 135lbs!”

“I can’t remember ever seeing such a dynamic young performer as Teofimo Lopez. He’s going to be the best in the world,” said Split-T Management CEO David McWater.

Lopez is promoted by Top Rank

Photo Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank