He was a tv friendly, colorful kind of guy who I enjoyed watching, and he had many good points, as in his 3rd bout with John John Molina, when it appeared that he had finally figured his rival out and secured the win..he deserves credit for his gutsy performance with Rocky Lockridge, in getting up from the deck to show that he wanted it more than Rocky..as well as being the guy to finally stop Jorge Paez' colorful run in '90 (I believe). I agree with the previous post, however, in that there was nothing really excellent about Tony, however.
One of my favorite boxers ever! Tony get's sold a little short I feel, as many think of him as a crude boxer/brawler with more heart than skill...maybe a little in the mold of a Gatti (who i would rank Lopez well ahead of!). Brought some of the best fights to us during his era! His fights with lockridge are out of this world, especially the way he battled back from a tremendous KD (looked like it would have crippled most men)...Hie fights with Molina were great as well. The fights with Mitchell just a notch below..for nostalgia I love his fight with paez. Even above his best weight and aging a little beat Haugen and Gamache (and I love the fight with guiterrez) Gave chavez a tough fight before being stopped on cuts. A togh fighter who may not be the best SFW/LW (or even among them), but on his best night would be a tough out for anyone in their prime, and I could envision him giving most all they could handle and stealing a few along the way!
Hugely underrated champion IMO. Beat Lockridge (twice), Molina (twice), Paez, and Gamache -that last one might not seem like much now, but Gamache was a red hot unbeaten prospect at the time, and favored to win. Even someone like Tyrone Jackson was considered somewhat dangerous as a challenger. Lopez was very tough and cagey, very strong for his weight, and could punch pretty solidly with both hands. He has a great resume and was a very ballsy champion who took on everyone. His first fight with Lockridge and third fight with Molina are all time classics IMO.
First fight i saw of him was with Greh Haugen, and i loved that fight, made me a fan of Tony. I have yet to watch the chavez, molina and lockridge fights though.
hey philly, thanks for the offer mate but i have these fights except for the lockridge fights, just havnt had time to view them yet. But want ot grab good copies of the lockridge one. ill shoot a msg later mate thanks though