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Josesito “Riverside Rocky” Lopez Could Face Fellow Riverside Welters

Published

10 years ago

September 11, 2014

Can you imagine a welterweight showdown between Riverside welterweights?

In just one day Josesito “Riverside Rocky” Lopez fights Shawn Gallegos in a welterweight contest in Las Vegas. For the second time the hard-fighting and always exciting prizefighter meets a solid but lesser known opponent.

It may be the last time that happens.

Lopez fights Gallegos on Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino but there’s talk of a match with England’s Amir “King” Khan later this year. And if that doesn’t go, a couple of fellow Riverside prizefighters like Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera or former champion Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley could emerge as candidates quite nicely. A fourth welterweight Artemio Reyes Jr. could also be added.

The quartet of welterweights resides in Riverside County and each is very familiar with the other.

Herrera trains within eyesight of Lopez’s gym a few miles away. Both are located on separate hillsides in the western end of Riverside. They have kept a careful eye on each other with Herrera engaging in sparring with the speedy Bradley years ago.

“Tim said we couldn’t spar anymore because he could see us fighting each other down the road,” said Herrera, who last fought and defeated Venezuela’s Johan Perez this past July. Previously, he nearly dethroned junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia in Puerto Rico this past March 15. He’s been chasing Garcia ever since.

“We could make that fight,” said Herrera, who was the first to defeat Ruslan Provodnikov in one of the top fights of 2011. He then proceeded to meet Mike Alvarado in another blazing battle in Las Vegas. Fans finally realized his talent and Golden Boy Promotions recently signed the boxer to a contract.

When Herrera fought Garcia, the Puerto Rican from Philly was surprised by the Riverside welterweight’s boxing ability. Jabs kept coming and Herrera proved too elusive for Garcia. After 12 rounds most of the world watching on television and those in the arena thought Herrera was the clear cut winner.

Like one famous trainer said: “You got to knock out a Puerto Rican to win a draw in Puerto Rico.” Not necessarily, but you get the picture.

A fight with Lopez has long been a dream of Herrera’s. He can envision a sold out crowd in a local arena. Herrera is hard to hit and is deadly accurate with the jab. Lopez has an awkward style and punches effectively from different angles.

“A lot of people would be interested in that fight,” said Herrera.

Bradley is another fighter in the mix of welterweights. The former WBO welterweight has only one loss in his career and looking to regain his footing at the top of the welterweight totem pole. Speed and the ability to adapt are Bradley’s main assets. Reyes has height and power from both sides with those long and lean arms, and shares trainer Joel Diaz.

Those two would probably never meet each other in the ring but a match with Herrera is a strong possibility. A match with Lopez could also materialize.

Ironically, all four were once part of the Thompson Boxing Promotions team at one time. A round-robin tournament featuring all four welterweights could be very interesting. Reyes and Lopez both remain with the Orange County-based promotion company. Lopez also signed with Al Haymon and is co-promoted by Goossen-Tutor and Golden Boy Promotions.

Meanwhile, Lopez has to survive another welterweight clash against a fighter that has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Last April, Lopez defeated another talented welterweight in Aron Martinez. Like Gallegos, East L.A.’s Martinez had nothing to lose. Sometimes those are the toughest fights. Just ask Danny Garcia who had so much trouble with Herrera.

Riverside County’s quartet of welterweights could very easily make a round-robin tournament that fans would love to see.

Bradley, Herrera, Reyes and Lopez against each other would make any boxing fan salivate.

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David A. Avila

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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