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Josesito Lopez: Fortune Favors The Brave
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After nine rounds of his fight with Victor Ortiz on Saturday, Josesito Lopez stood motionless in his corner. His bruised face was expressionless in disbelief as he watched referee Jack Reiss signal the end of the contest. Lopez would soon come to the realization that fortune favors the brave.
***
It’s November 2008 and boxing trainer Henry Ramirez is standing at the foot of a staircase. “Jose!” he shouts. “Come down here.”
Two writers have come to the house in Big Bear, California to interview heavyweight contender Chris Arreola, but Ramirez wants to make sure they also meet his other fighter, Josesito Lopez. “Jose’s probably sleeping,” says Ramirez to the writers. “He loves to sleep.”
A minute later Lopez comes bounding down the stairs. With a wide smile and an unblemished face, he looks much younger than his 24-years. His cheery personality belies that of a prizefighter coming off the third loss of his career and struggling to make an impact in the most unforgiving of professions.
“I don’t worry about it, I just need some luck,” he says. “With hard work and a bit of luck, everything will be come together someday.” With that, he sits down on the couch and picks up a video game controller and turns on the console, ready to step into a world in which it is easier to determine his fate.
***
Lopez’ luck finally began to turn last month when a sequence of coincidental events led to him standing opposite Ortiz at LA’s Staples Center on the Showtime main event. The cancellation of a proposed fight with Kendall Holt freed up Lopez to fill a void created by Andre Berto’s withdrawal due to a positive steroid test. The catch was that Lopez would have to fight the former world titlist Ortiz at the 147 pound welterweight limit, something that the naturally smaller Riverside, CA native had never done before.
The size discrepancy was obvious as the first bell rang on Saturday and for nine rounds Lopez absorbed heavy blows from a man who was considerably stronger and punched with more power than Lopez had ever felt in his life. Ortiz’ superior talent saw him continually land jarring shots that rocked the normally aggressive Lopez into retreat. Few would have questioned Lopez if he went down from the assaults, but through grim determination he fired back at his foe, willingly taking two punches to land one of his own.
His wild hooks and uppercuts initially appeared to have little impact on Ortiz, but Lopez never became despondent; he’s accustomed to things not going his way. He kept swinging and swinging. At some point in the ninth Lopez landed a left hook that damaged Ortiz’ jaw, convincing the Ventura fighter, who was ahead on all three scorecards, to stay on his stool at the round’s end. The unlikely outcome is the biggest upset of the year and goes a small way to lessening the bad taste left by the Timothy Bradley-Manny Pacquiao scoring controversy earlier this month.
“There's a reason why they call me Josesito,” said Lopez after the fight, both eyes swollen and a welt under his cheek. “I'm 'Little Jose' for a reason. I've always been the skinny guy fighting the bigger guy, or the smallest Jose on the block. I'm used to it.”
Lopez’ hooks carried extra significance as they shattered the plans of Golden Boy Promotions as badly as they did his opponent’s jaw. Two weeks ago the promoters had the temerity to announce that Ortiz would meet Saul Alvarez in a multi-million dollar pay-per-view event on September 15th.
“I found it very disrespectful,” said Lopez, 27. “They couldn't wait to announce the fight after our fight was over? It was arrogant and disrespectful, to me and the sport.”
Lopez’ involvement in professional fighting goes back to his 18th birthday when he looked for a way to earn some money. He admits he wasn’t particularly talented at anything, including boxing. But the sentencing of his father to prison for drug trafficking soon after gave Lopez the impetus to make a career from the sport. Things didn’t get any easier when Lopez’ long-time trainer died a year later, resulting in Ramirez moving up from his assistant role.
In all, Lopez has now amassed a 30-4 (18) record, with many of his fights staged at remote venues such as the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA and all four losses coming from close decisions, something not helped by his lack of connections to a major powerbroker.
Going into Saturday’s fight Lopez admitted that he has gone for long periods without a car and has taken a second job teaching fitness classes to help support his family. Such thoughts surely played on his mind in the fifth round during the several minutes of recovery time he was afforded when an illegal blow to the back of the head sent him to the canvas, leaving him visibly shaken.
“I was hurt,” acknowledged Lopez. “But there’s no way I could ever quit. This opportunity was too big for me. This was my Rocky moment and I wasn’t letting it go.”
That defiant attitude also led Lopez to question Ortiz’ withdrawal from the fight, even with a broken jaw.
“I have a big heart; Victor has no heart,” stated Lopez.
Lopez can be forgiven for doubting the fighting spirit of a man with an injury that left his bloody mouth fixed agape. Years of misfortune and toiling on the fringes can harden a fighter’s resolve to the point where it exceeds the normal reaches of human valor. Lopez is unable to put himself in the position of Ortiz; injuries take on greater consequence when one has already achieved so much.
Tellingly, Ortiz said earlier this week regarding criticism of last year’s loss to Floyd Mayweather: “I’m very confident in myself. I’ve done a lot in this sport. I don't need to prove anything to anyone.”
Lopez has never earned $2.5 million for a fight as Ortiz did for his showdown with Mayweather. He doesn’t know what it’s like to have tasted the glory of a world championship. He can’t imagine the sport’s two dominant promoters, Top Rank and Golden Boy, competing for his signature. He has never had a renowned boxing family tear itself apart for the privilege of training him as the Garcias did when Ortiz chose Danny over his brother Roberto and their father Eduardo.
Even after Saturday’s win, Lopez will have learned that recognition is not instant. At the post-fight press conference he was ushered off the dais after a few minutes so that Saul Alvarez could take the stage.
But perhaps Chris Arreola surmised everything that needs to be known about Lopez’ mindset when he said last week: “Don’t be fooled by Jose. He seems like just a kid but I’m telling you, no matter what he’ll never give up. He’s got balls. Big balls.”
Ronan Keenan can be reached at ronankeenan@yahoo.com
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Bivol Evens the Score with Beterbiev; Parker and Stevenson Win Handily
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It was labeled the best boxing card in history.
That’s up for debate.
And there was some debate as Dmitry Bivol avenged his loss to Artur Beterbiev to become the new undisputed light heavyweight world champion on Saturday by majority decision in a tactical battle.
“He gave me this chance and I appreciate it,” said Bivol of Beterbiev.
Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) rallied from behind to give Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) his first pro loss in their rematch at a sold out crowd in the Venue Riyadh Season in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Like their first encounter the rematch was also very close.
Four months ago, these two faced each other as undefeated light heavyweights. Now, after two furious engagements, both have losses.
Beterbiev was making his first defense as undisputed light heavyweight champion and made adjustments from their first match. This time the Russian fighter who trains in Canada concentrated on a body attack and immediately saw dividends.
For most of the first six rounds it seemed Beterbiev would slowly grind down Bivol until he reached an unsurmountable lead. But despite the momentum he never could truly hurt Bivol or gain separation.
Things turned around in the seventh round as Bivol opened up with combinations to the head and body while slipping Beterbiev’s blows. It was a sudden swing of momentum. But how long could it last?
“It was hard to keep him at the distance. I had to be smarter and punch more clean punches,” said Bivol.
Beterbiev attempted to regain the momentum but Bivol was not allowing it to happen. In the final 10 seconds he opened up with a machine gun combination. Though few of the punches connected it became clear he was not going to allow unclarity.
Using strategic movement Bivol laced quick combinations and immediately departed. Betebiev seemed determined to counter the fleet fighter but was unsuccessful for much of the second half of the fight.
Around the 10th round Beterbiev stepped on the gas with the same formula of working the body and head. It gave Bivol pause but he still unleashed quick combos to keep from being overrun.
Bivol connected with combinations and Beterbiev connected with single body and head shots. It was going to be tough for the referees to decide which attack they preferred. After 12 rounds with no knockdowns one judge saw it a draw at 114-114. But two others saw Bivol the winner 116-112, 115-113.
“I was better. I was pushing myself more, I was lighter. I just wanted to win so much today,” said Bivol.
Beterbiev was gracious in defeat.
“Congratulations to Bivol’s team” said Beterbiev. “I think this fight was better than the first fight.”
After the match it was discussed that an effort to make a third fight is a strong possibility.
Heavyweight KO by Parker
Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) once again proved he could be the best heavyweight without a world title in knocking out the feared Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) to retain his WBO interim title. It was quick and decisive.
“Catch him when he is coming in,” said Parker, 33, about his plan.
After original foe IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois was forced to withdraw due to illness, Bakole willingly accepted the match with only two days’ notice. Many experts and fans around the world were surprised and excited Parker accepted the match.
Ever since Parker lost to Joe Joyce in 2022, the New Zealander has proven to be vastly improved with wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Now you can add Bakole to the list of conquests.
Bakole, 33, was coming off an impressive knockout win last July and posed a serious threat if he connected with a punch. The quick-handed Bakole at 310 pounds and a two-inch height advantage is always dangerous.
In the first round Parker was wary of the fighter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He kept his range and moved around the ring looking to poke a jab and move. Bakole caught him twice with blows and Parker retaliated.
It proved to be a very important test.
Parker refrained from moving and instead moved inside range of the big African fighter. Both exchanged liberally with Bakole connecting with an uppercut and Parker an overhand right.
Bakole shook his head at the blow he absorbed.
Both re-engaged and fired simultaneously. Parker’s right connected to the top of the head of Bakole who shuddered and stumbled and down he went and could not beat the count. The referee stopped the heavyweight fight at 2:17 of the second round. Parker retains his interim title by knockout.
“I’m strong, I’m healthy, I’m sharp,” said Parker. “I had to be patient.”
Shakur Wins
Despite an injured left hand southpaw WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) won by stoppage over late replacement Josh Padley (15-1, 6 KOs). It was an impressive accomplishment.
Often criticized for his lack of action and safety-first style, Stevenson was supposed to fight undefeated Floyd Schofield who pulled out due to illness. In stepped British lightweight Padley who had nothing to lose.
Padley was never hesitant to engage with the super-quick Stevenson and despite the lightning-quick combos by the champion, the British challenger exchanged liberally. It just wasn’t enough.
Even when Stevenson injured his left hand during an exchange in the sixth round, Padley just couldn’t take advantage. The speedy southpaw kept shooting the right jabs and ripping off right hooks. At the end of the sixth Stevenson briefly switched to a right-handed fighting style.
Stevenson used his right jabs and hooks to perfection. Double right hooks to the head and body seemed to affect the British challenger. A clean left to the body of Padley sent him to the floor for the count in the ninth round. It was a surprising knockdown due to his injured left. Padley got up and the fight resumed. Stevenson unloaded with right hooks to the body and down went the British fighter once again. He got up and tried to fight his way out but was met with another left to the body and down he went a third time. Padley’s corner tossed in a white towel to signify surrender. The referee stopped the fight at the end of the round. Stevenson scored his 11th knockout win.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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Early Results from Riyadh where Hamzah Sheeraz was Awarded a Gift Draw
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After two 6-round appetizers, British light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith got the show rolling with a lusty 12-round skirmish. Things went south in the middle of the seven-fight main card when WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames locked horns with challenger Hamzah Sheeraz. This was a drab fight owing to a milquetoast performance by the favored Sheeraz.
Heading in, the lanky six-foot-three Sheeraz, whose physique is mindful of a young Thomas Hearns, was undefeated in 21 fights. Having stopped five of his last six opponents in two rounds or less, the 25-year-old Englishman was touted as the next big thing in the middleweight division. However, he fought off his back foot the entire contest, reluctant to let his hands go, and Adames kept his title when the bout was scored a draw.
Sheeraz had the crowd in his corner and two of the judges scored the match with their ears. Their tallies were 115-114 for Sheeraz and 114-114. The third judge had it 118-110 for Adames, the 30-year old Dominican, now 24-1-1, who had Ismael Salas in his corner.
Ortiz-Madrimov
Super welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr, knocked out his first 21 opponents, begging the question of how he would react when he finally faced adversity. He showed his mettle in August of last year when he went a sizzling 12 rounds with fellow knockout artist Serhii Bohachuk, winning a hard-fought decision. Tonight he added another feather in his cap with a 12-round unanimous decision over Ismail Madrimov, prevailing on scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.
Ortiz won by adhering tight to Robert Garcia’s game plan. The elusive Madrimov, who bounces around the ring like the energizer bunny, won the early rounds. But eventually Ortiz was able to cut the ring off and turned the tide in his favor by landing the harder punches. It was the second straight loss for Madrimov (10-2-1), a decorated amateur who had lost a close but unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in his previous bout.
Kabayel-Zhang
No heavyweight has made greater gains in the last 15 months than Agit Kabayel. The German of Kurdish descent, whose specialty is body punching, made his third straight appearance in Riyadh tonight and, like in the previous two, fashioned a knockout. Today, although out-weighed by more than 40 pounds, he did away with Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang in the sixth round.
It didn’t start out well for Kabayel. The New Jersey-based, six-foot-six Zhang, a two-time Olympian for China, started fast and plainly won the opening round. Kabayel beat him to the punch from that point on, save for one moment when Zhang put him on the canvas with a straight left hand.
That happened in the fifth round, but by the end of the frame, the 41-year-old Zhang was conspicuously gassed. The end for the big fellow came at the 2:29 mark of round six when he couldn’t beat the count after crumbling to the canvas in a delayed reaction after taking a hard punch to his flabby midsection.
Kabayel remains undefeated at 26-0 (18 KOs). Zhang (27-3-1) hadn’t previously been stopped.
Smith-Buatsi
The all-British showdown between light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith was a grueling, fan-friendly affair. A former 168-pound world title-holder, Smith, 34, won hard-earned unanimous decision, prevailing on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and a ludicrous 119-110.
There were no knockdowns, but Liverpool’s Smith, who advanced to 31-2 (22) finished the contest with a bad gash in the corner of his right eye. It was the first pro loss for Buatsi (19-1), an Olympic bronze medalist who entered the contest a small favorite and was the defending “interim” title-holder.
This contest was also a battle of wits between two of America’s most prominent trainers, Buddy McGirt (Smith) and Virgil Hunter (Buatsi).
Check back shortly for David Avila’s wrap-up of the last three fights.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez
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Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.
Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.
Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.
Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.
In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.
“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.
Other Bouts
Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.
Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.
Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.
Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.
A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.
It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.
In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.
Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.
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