The win over a young, but still formidable Nelson was a good scalp for Chava. And many of his defenses were against solid, credible contenders. Featherweight was a pretty deep division in the early 80's and Sanchez cleaned out his fair share of it (with Pedroza cleaning out the rest). That's part of the reason why he ranks so high on most all time 126lb lists. Of course, if he faced, and lost to Pedroza (who I feel would have been a tough fight for him), his ranking would have diminished...but not that much. People forgive losses to great fighters, as long as you acquit yourself reasonably well in defeat. That's part of the reason why Mayweather rates more highly than Lopez. There are some very good and a couple of legitimately great fighters who appear on his resume. I love Finito, but he never got around to fighting Carbajal or Gonzalez, or even a younger Arce. Yes, there were some quality fighters that were defeated (Rosendo Alvarez, Will Grigsby, Nene Sanchez, Saman Sor Jatourong and Zolani Potelo being the best among them); but no true great fighters and unfortunately, that hurts his standing.
Lopez was great, he didn´t have Floyd´s competition though. No way you can rate him higher than Mayweather.
Lopez fought some great fighters. Just because you never herd or didnt follow the lower weights u cant hold that agsinst him
because he didn't even fight a handful of them. alvarez twice (who had beaten no one of note and gave lopez hell) and vorapin? hes probably the most overrated ever. sure, he had a nice style but when youre only fighting c and b class fighters of course youll look good
Agreed :good Emphasis on beating two top guys in his generation, dominated by none. This is confirmed by Ediwn Valero Edwin Valero died at 27-0, 27 KOs winning titles in 130 & 135, yet he has no Chava aura. The reason is that he died before beating down Top guys in his generation, had Edwin Valero died after defeating Pacman & De Marco became a HOF material fighter...Then his ATG status would have been semi-legendary
Ricardo Lopez can't be GOAT material for two reasons: #1 Staying comfortable as a WBC champion & not trying to become Undisputed. Mainly Vorapin who defended the IBF title 20 times. Had Lopez wanted to impose his status as a GOAT candidate he must have fought Vorapin when he was still an IBF Champion #2 When he tried to eventually become Undisputed in the division he partially ruled for so long, he got a Draw vs WBA champion Alvarez & then just moved up instead of going for the Undisputed crown. A must for any fighter who wants to be a GOAT candidate With these 2 flaws, Ricardo Lopez is still on the same level as Floyd Mayweather today...Floyd still has a chance to change this, as he never lost yet & can fight bigger fights :thumbsup
Based on resume? Absolutely not. Not skill either, although Lopez was a wonderful fighter. He perfected that style Beristain taught to the Marquez bros.