NEW YORK – Teofimo Lopez proved to Arnold Barboza Jr. on Friday night what promised after being accused of avoiding the the contender.

Completely comfortable in an iconic environment, Lopez utilized his athleticism, hand speed, combination punching and elusiveness to outbox Barboza on The Ring’s “FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves” outdoor card in Times Square. Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) easily won their 12-round, 140-pound title bout by unanimous decision and dealt Barboza (32-1, 11 KOs) his first defeat.

The scorecards of judges Max De Luca (116-112), Eric Marlinski (116-112) and David Sutherland (118-110) reflected how much sharper the Brooklyn-born Lopez was for most of their one-sided bout.

Lopez successfully defended the Ring and WBO junior welterweight titles he won from then-unbeaten Scottish southpaw Josh Taylor in June 2021 for the third time. Lopez, 27, also ended Barboza’s impressive run over the previous five months, when he defeated former WBC/WBO 140-pound champ Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision and British southpaw Jack Catterall (30-2, 13 KOs) by split decision.

“I feel great,” Lopez told The Ring’s Mike Coppinger in the ring. “I feel reborn. And at 140,, I been at this weight for some time now. But we’ll talk about, me and my time, about going up, maybe.”

Lopez then called out unbeaten Ring/IBF/WBA welterweight champ Jaron “Boots” Ennis. Las Vegas’ Lopez would have to move up seven pounds to challenge Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) for his 147-pound crowns.

“You know me, guys,” Lopez said. “I go after the tough challenges. … I’m Dora The Explorer, and I’m looking for Boots.”

Barboza obviously needed a knockout by the time the 12th round began. The El Monte, California, native didn’t do much differently during those final three minutes, though, than he tried in the previous 11 rounds.

Lopez slipped Barboza’s punches in those final three minutes just the way he had done in the prior round and cruised to a dominant win.

By the 10th, an abundantly confident Lopez realized there wasn’t much Barboza could do to change the course of their fight. Lopez slipped Barboza’s punches during that round, landed on occasion and built on his clear lead.

Lopez unloaded in combination at the midway mark of the ninth. Those punches made Barboza retreat.

Lopez showboated again late in the eighth. The champion controlled that round from a distance by pot-shotting Barboza and avoiding most of his punches.

Lopez landed a left hand on the inside with just under 40 seconds on the clock in the seventh. An overhand right by Lopez had connected barely 50 seconds in.

Barboza drilled Lopez with a right hand that buckled his knees with 1:10 to go in the sixth. That was the most effective shot Barboza landed to that point and appeared to cause the cut that opened beneath Lopez’s left eye.

Lopez landed a right hand from long range with just under a minute to go in the fifth. Barboza tried to work his way inside at times yet Lopez mostly made him pay with counter shots.

A showboating Lopez played to the crowd toward the end of the fifth He appeared completely in control by that point.

Lopez controlled the action again during a fourth in which he landed the more impactful punches. Barboza reached and couldn’t catch his elusive opponent with flush punches.

A counter left hook by Lopez made Barboza reset his feet with just over 30 seconds on the clock in the third. About 20 seconds later, Lopez landed a right uppercut that got Barboza’s attention.

Barboza’s second straight right of the third landed with about 1:10 to go. A straight right by Barboza had backed up Lopez a little less than a minute in.

Barboza lunged and landed a left with just under 30 seconds remaining in the second round.

Lopez slipped multiple punches by Barboza and moved toward the ropes when there was approximately 1:45 on the clock. Lopez’s overhand right landed to the side of Barboza’s head about 30 seconds in.

Lopez landed a left to Barboza’s body that knocked him off balance with about 10 seconds to go in the first round.

Barboza’s stiff left landed on the inside with about 50 seconds to go. Lopez landed a looping right hand as Barboza held his left hand low.