Ricardo Lopez

you are in for a treat...the classic forum has a lot of respect for this man and with good reason. i'll let some of the more knowledgable posters fill you in but pound for pound he's one of the greatest ever. his record reflects his talent and though his division wasn't the greatest, he dominated with such an amazing skill set he's likely the best 105 pound fighter ever. near perfect timing, brilliant combinations, fast hands, fast feet, two fisted power and graceful movement. the lone draw on his record was when he was on the slide against a much more powerful, stronger fighter in alvarez which was avenged a short time later. watching him is a treat as he was amazing on both offense and defense, outboxing nearly everyone who got in the ring with him. i'd recommend watching him as his record doesn't convey his brilliance

 

I thought i rated Lopez quite highly

 

i am saying nothing

 

better explain something at least

One of the best textbook fighters that ever lived. If you havent seen him hes a more technically correct but less fluid Juan manuel Marquez.

Showed a great skillset and power and chin but was never really tested at Minimumweight and should have gone up to LightFlyweight earlier and fought the better names in that division around his time like Carbajal or Chiquito Gonzalez.

 

Excellent fighter who didn't really have the competition to push him. One of the purest punchers i've seen as far as technique is concerned, great accuracy, footwork and movement. The vid shows his display of punching technique, one of the best 1-2 combinations I've seen at 4:00 min mark and towards the end of the 2nd round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuymSM64vEA

 

i do rate him pretty highly, at times he's been in my all time top 10. i just love watching the man at work

you raise a good point and for me the only possible smear on his record is his resume. he stuck with his weight class and not only defeated but DOMINATED every possible opponent until alvarez (which is was certainly past prime). i don't think it's much of a criticism though: he stuck in his weight class and put in spectacular service there where, unfortunately, there wasn't any real competition for him. i think cabajal and gonzalez were amazing and chiquito had the power to trouble him but lopez, talent wise, would likely have beaten both. those were two fights though that i agree, would have been amazing to see and i wish we had gotten them.

 

Well, in terms of his resume, it's not that strong. Mainly due to the fact his division didn't have any real big names in it at the time, and the majority of his resume is unknown to most casual fans. But absolutely his record is outstanding, and he was a magnficient technician. He would crack my top 50 of all-time without a shadow of a doubt, though I wouldn't be able to rank him more specific at this moment in time.

 

Rosendo Alvarez gave him hell. When your an excellent technician and the majority of your record is fighting ex thai fighters from the orient its hard to show your stuff. I wonder how great El Finito would have been had he faced more seasoned boxing fighters. He was certainly well schooled under Nacho Beristain and one of the first Mexican fighters to buck the face first blood and guts Mexican style and be a good established boxer.

 

IMO his resume would be truly top 30 of all-time if he'd moved up in the early-t-mid 90's and fought Chiquita Gonzalez and Michael Carbajal, te only two genuine 'stars' around that time. They would've been entertaining matches.

However, when you consider his skillset; siper-fast and calculated footwork. Brilliant combinations. Power in both hands (though the straight right is clearly his best punch) and perfectly thrown uppercuts.

He also showed decent punch resistance IMO. And his average ability on the inside was offset by his brilliance at maintaining the distance/range he wanted it.

I think he is in the latter part of my 1930-onwards P4P top 100. Just behind (three places or so) Aaron Pryor in the 'on film amongst the best I've ever seen but not quite enough in the resume department' :good

 

Where are your examples of these seasoned guys? At Straw there really wasn't any?

 

I think that he is perhaps the closest thing I have ever seen to perfection in boxing. He beat the best fighters in his natural weight division. He actually fought above his natural weight class because the minimum division did not exist in the early part of his career.

 

definitely a fair assessment and criticism:thumbsup

 

Well that was the point I was making there wasnt any. He looked great against a lot of mediocre fighters. Rosendo Alvarez was a bit bigger and stronger but he negated a lot of Lopez beautiful boxing ability. I dont think he faced Alvarez when he was past his best either. If anything I think Lopez retired a little early, because of Don Kings BS. If there was better fighters out there, it might not have looked as stellar on paper.