There was an interview on "The Sweet Science" web site with Danny "Little Red" Lopez the other day. It was a sort of 'where are they now' piece. When the interviewer ask Danny if he had any regrets he said he regretted not moving up to 130 because he was having lots of trouble making weight at the end of his career. Danny was only 28 when he retired, so theoretically he could have had some good years left. Furthermore, we all know what kind of fighter it took to dethrone him at 126. So what if Danny would have moved up around the time of the Sanchez fight? Arguello was already at 135. Danny would have had Boza-Edwards, Limon, and Chacon, the man who took his zero, to deal with, among others. Thoughts?
I'd give him a shot against Limon. I don't think the weight would make much difference against Chacon. I see it as the same matchup at either feather or super feather. I think Boza would be too rugged and durable for Lopez at 130.
Boza was the better boxer, but I definitely wouldn't say he was too durable for one of the hardest P4P hitters of all time.
That amazing punching power would be the key at 130. If, and that's If with a capital "I", but if Danny was a bit weight drained against sanchez, he may have actually been stronger at 130. As far as any potential decline in handspeed goes, Danny was not the type of fighter that relied a great deal on hand speed. I just thought it was extremely interesting to read his comment that not moving up was his ONLY regret, because I have often wondered about it myself.
I definitely respect your opinion, and I know this is all speculation anyway. Boza had some success at 135 and gave Arguello a pretty good go at that weight. We can only speculate what Lopez would've done at 130. I'm going with the bigger man. I'd certainly give him a punchers chance but I do believe Boza would survive Lopez's power and win a decision or score a late stoppage.
I wasn't saying I don't think Boza could win, I was just saying that he'd been stopped before by big punchers so I see no reason Lopez couldn't hurt him severely. Not to mention Boza had a tendancy to get into wars, which could(and probably would) hurt him against someone like Lopez.
Arguello moved up to 135, but at 130 I'd say he survives some scary moments in the early going, takes over in the mid rounds, and stops Danny inside 10. ( Lopez had a tendency to get knocked down, obviously, but the man had a solid chin. However, Arguello's reach, hieght, and sharp shooting would just be to much for him.) I think Chacon just had Danny's number. Danny's own description of his loss to Chacon was "Bobby kicked my butt." Sanchez/Lopez at 130? Same fight as the first two. I'd give Danny a good shot at beating anyone else at 130 from that era.
Appears Lopez DID fight at 130 lbs. ( He was only pushing 40 years old) LOPEZ LOST BY KO IN 3 date Lb opponent Lb W - L - D last 6 location 1992-02-27 131 Jorge Rodriguez 130 10-24-2 Irvine, California, United States ~ time: 0:37 | referee: Larry Rozadilla ~
Danny touched on that in the interview I referred to in my original post. He said he saw what Foreman was doing and thought he'd give it a try himself.
Great question. The Sanchez losses i'd say didn't have him shot by any means and hindsight tells us the said losses really aren't bad at all. I'd say he would have won some and lost some. I would not be surprised if he stopped the likes of Limon. Many of them had a penchant to brawl, Boza, Limon, Navarrete, Chacon. Arguello went thru the lot of them. I can see Danny mixing right in with that quartet, winning some and maybe losing some.
