37 years ago today: Antonio "Tony The Tiger" López vs. Juan Ángel "John John" Molina Cruz I

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A sturdy but not often mentioned brick in the wall of the longstanding Mexico vs. Puerto Rico boxing rivalry is the López vs. Molina trilogy, spanning 34 rounds over nineteen months on the 80s/90s cusp.

"The Tiger" was destined for the ring as a second generation pugilist** (and third in his family) - but destiny would have passed him by if not for a chance drive-by encounter. At the age of ten, young untrained Tony López was about to come to blows with another neighborhood boy when a vehicle happened by. Untrained by design, that is, because his dad Sal Sr. never wanted him lacing up gloves. Inside that fatefully timely automobile, however, were Tony's older brother Salomón M. "Sal" López Jr. and his trainer and manager Jerry Jacobs. The latter rolled down the window and told López to not bother exchanging punches without a) knowing how and b) getting paid for it. Obviously the kid jumped - literally - into the opportunity and Sal Sr. could but sigh and accept the inevitability that both boys had caught the bug.

(** Salomón Sr. was born July 6th, 1923 in Michoacán, Mexico and was allegedly also a pro before his sons followed him into the game - but I can't find any verified records of him anywhere...unsurprising, as recordkeepers for Mexican fighters in particular from that era often have incomplete data...)

Jacobs was a local legend in Sacramento then best known for handling popular mid-seventies bantamweight - and later his assistant coach - Joe Guevara. Salomón López Jr. was his next iron in the fire, already a successful amateur regionally. He would eventually win almost 90 amateur bout including a 1-1 split-pair rivalry with Marlon Starling before turning pro and going 30-3 (24) - but of course he wasn't to be the most celebrated López brother the sport's history.

In a bit of a parallel with the Mike Tyson and Cus D'Amato relationship, Jacobs cultivated the López brothers' latent talent but declining health prevented him from accompanying them all the way on their journeys into the pros. Both would have a revolving door of chief seconds, never clicking with quite the same chemistry they had with their foundational mentor. Sal Jr. seesawed between Frank Saracho and Carl "Bobo" Olson for a while before settling on Will Edgington. Tony oscillated between Jimmy Montoya, his own brother Sal Jr., briefly Edgington, and Stan Ward.

Tony turned pro after going 47-2 in the amateurs, ranked #6 in the USA when he debuted. When he wrested the IBF super featherweight title from Rocky Lockridge (a great fighter that younger generations sadly know as only a "crying dude" meme ) he was undefeated but for a single DQ loss. López was dominating Ramón "El Pajarito" Rico when the ref quite rightly penalized him for something of a double-whammy foul: a rabbit punch while Rico was down. In their immediate rematch, López minded his p's and q's and wasted no time knocking out Rico in under three rounds.

The stage is now set for López's first defense - just three months after getting off the canvas to beat Lockridge in a war that was named Ring Magazine's 1988 FOTY.

The challenger from Fajardo had solid credentials coming in. Molina had represented Puerto Rico in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and fallen just shy of a bronze medal. He won the Boxing World Cup in Seoul the following year. By his world championship shot against López, he was 18-1 (12). His defeat, however, unlike López's wasn't some fluke disqualification. He was knocked out by Lupe Suárez in the 9th round in only his second time seeing past an eighth - presaging imperfections with his defense and to a much greater extent stamina (not so much chin) that would echo throughout John John's career.

The challenger had 5" of height and 5" of reach on the incumbent, and probably greater hand speed than anybody López had shared the ring with. Molina would have needed to be fast to keep up in sparring with camp-mates the likes of Pernell Whitaker and Meldrick Taylor!

The precocious Molina brought a bold game plan into the ring - correctly assuming that his opponent would still have some battle fatigue this soon after the Lockridge war. Ignoring the raucous boos of the partisan Arco Arena audience, he blitzed López in the first few rounds. Molina spiraled in repeatedly with an outpouring of jabs, 1-2s, hooks and body shots - and dropped the champ in the second with a double-tap left to rib & jib.

López would gradually reassert himself over the middle and late rounds, while Molina received multiple foul warnings from Henry Elespuru. This line-skating would ultimately catch up with him when he flagrantly double-tapped López on the cojones by uppercutting with either hand and received a deduction in Round 11. This critical moment would cost him the fight - López was up by a single point on two judges' cards, meaning without the low blow it would have been a draw. López still would have retained, but Molina wouldn't have an L.

What followed is the best round of their '88 encounter and perhaps the whole series. I highly recommend R12 if you watch nothing else between them. If you view and enjoy all twelve, by all means check out the worthy follow-ups in the rematch and rubber-match.

Molina would, after licking his wounds from this close & controversial defeat, embark on the greatest stretch of form of his life - defeating Juan LaPorte for the WBO belt and then avenging both of his losses to date, against López and Lupe Suárez, both via stoppage. In their 1990 tiebreaker it would be another narrow points victory for López, via SD, but it would be Molina that got knocked down that night.

Probably far more discussed than his fantastic trilogy with the man from Sacramento is Molina's close loss to another Californian of Mexican descent - one Óscar de la Hoya. Boricua boxing fans of a certain age are still extremely bitter that the undefeated Golden Boy got away with what they consider highway robbery (many of them feel it should have been, at worst for John John, a draw - if not DLH's zero being snatched outright).

In the other corner as well, this epic feud is largely overshadowed by a failed challenge of a marquee ATG. López's name is likely brought up most often in the context of Julio César Chávez's œvre, being dominated & stopped by La Leyenda.

Despite being multiple time world champions, neither is enshrined in Canastota. Each has been inducted, however, by a state Hall of Fame: López in California's; Molina in Florida's. JJM, interestingly, is absent from even the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame (Pabellón de la Fama del Deporte Puertorriqueño) which includes Félix Trinidad and roughly a dozen other boxers from the island.

López now happily works as a bail bondsman in Sacramento - probably the most on-the-nose perfect ex-boxer occupation I can think of. Molina became a huge superstar for a time in PR, maybe the most beloved prizefighter between the Bazooka Gómez and Tito eras (perhaps tied with Héctor Camacho, an even more colorful personality) and has been gracing Boriquén media for decades - magazine covers, TV hosting gigs, dating models, attending elite parties, etc.

 

Both have very easy-on-the-eyes styles for the most part. It's a shame their fun rivalry isn't what people typically first think of when it comes to either (the way that is true of, say, Gatti & Ward or Israel Vázquez & Rafael Márquez).

 

Why, I'll thumb you, ya barneymugging flat tire!

 

You all think he's making this up, but it's real.

 

Hey man, we're already insecure about our micro-rock in Plymouth.