‘The Takeover’ officially transitions to The Takeback.

Former lineal/WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez will now set his sights on the junior welterweight division, beginning with a scheduled ten-round clash with Mexico’s Pedro Campa. Both fighters made weight for their ESPN-televised main event which will take place Saturday evening at Resorts World Las Vegas.

Brooklyn’s Lopez —who now lives and trains in Las Vegas—was a rock solid 138.8 pounds for what is classified as his junior welterweight debut. Campa tipped the scales at 139.4 pounds for just his second career fight outside of his native Mexico.

The fight is the first for Lopez (16-1, 12KOs) since suffering the lone defeat of his career, a twelve-round, split decision to George Kambosos Jr. last November 27 at Madison Square Garden Hulu Theater in New York City. The Fight of the Year-level slugfest saw both fighters hit the canvas, with Lopez down in the opening round but rallying to drop Kambosos in round ten but unable to close the show in coming up short on the scorecards.

It was the final stamp on a year to forget for Lopez, who spent much of 2021 waiting on his fight with Kambosos to see the light of day following multiple postponements. It was a far cry from his previous two outings, first dismantling Richard Commey inside of two rounds to win the IBF lightweight title in December 2019 and then outpointing Vasiliy Lomachenko in their October 2020 lineal/WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight unification match in Las Vegas.

The latter feat saw Lopez earn Fighter of the Year honors, which will become the goal in 2023 and beyond. For now, it’s all about getting reacquainted in the ring and at a weight where the 24-year-old star has fought just twice before during his six-year pro career.

Campa (34-1-1, 23KOs) has spent his entire career at junior welterweight or heavier, though steps up in class for his second U.S fight. The 30-year-old from Hermosillo, Mexico was previously in line to face former four-division titlist Adrien Broner last February, only for the fight to never materialize. He’s claimed three wins since that development, including a third-round stoppage of unbeaten Carlos Sanchez on March 19.

An eight-fight unbeaten streak accompanies Campa into Saturday’s contest.

Opening the ESPN-aired doubleheader, rising junior middleweight Xander Zayas faces Elias Espadas in a scheduled eight-round contest with the WBO-NABO belt at stake. Zayas weighed a light and ripped 153 pounds for his first career regional title fight, while Espadas was 153.6 pounds at Friday’s pre-fight weigh-in.

Zayas—who turns just 20 in September—was among the top prospects of 2021, hoping to emerge as a contender this year. The undefeated Puerto Rican—originally from San Juan but who now lives and trains in South Florida—suffered a minor setback, when he fell ill ahead of a planned co-feature slot on an ESPN card at Hulu Theater on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City.

Saturday’s bout marks the first for Zayas since March, and also his first trip back to Nevada since the start of his career. Zayas’ pro debut took place in Reno, Nevada in October 2019, fighting in Vegas just one month later.

Espadas is unbeaten in his last six starts, though idle since last September. The 31-year-old from Merida, Mexico has never been stopped in 27 pro bouts. Saturday marks his second straight in the U.S.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox