Danny Lopez vs Antonio Esparragoza

Very good matchup Vic..it would be easy right up front to say Esparragoza wins the narrowest of decisions here, but the question is, and forgive me of my ignorance of the Venezuelan but how good was his chin? Specifically, was he ever really clocked during any of his title defenses and did he ever convincingly display a world class chin? He would surely need one vs Lopez. Whether he was able to outhustle or out general Lopez as Sanchez did, chances are that he would be on the recieving end of Lopez's power at one point or another...that would be the deciding factor on whether Antonio could take the nod over Danny or not...and I don't really think he would stop Little Red.

 

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I haven't seen any of Esparragoza save his title-winning effort against Cruz, but that was damn impressive. Impossible to gauge something like this off of one effort, but if he can duplicate THAT, I think he beats Lopez, either by late stoppage or decision....

 

Cruz was pretty nondescript bar his possibly heat assisted win over McGuigan though.An awkward minimalist technician, but one who would likely get dominated by a good amount of featherweights.

I should probably go over some of Antonio's fights again.He didn't make a big impact on me, but it's been a while.

he has the offensive skills to put a good amount of hurt on Lopez, but hittable, methodical, slow legged stalking boxer-punchers are not the style to triumph over Lopez unless they have some serious durability, power and intangibles.I'm not sure Antonio had the durability or poise to prevail in what would surely be a brutal fight.

 

Esparragoza proved his worth over time though......he surely wasn't a one-hit wonder.

Granted, it's only one fight I've seen, but slow-legged and methodical weren't terms I'd use to describe him against Cruz. Been a while since I've seen it, but he seemed very solid technically as well as being unpredictable and strong.

 

Most of his title opposition was average at best though, Sal.

he struggled and was knocked off-kilter for long perios against Villasana, who was the best he fought and clearest marker of his ability.

No shame there as Marcos was a good fighter and a brick wall, but it's not the kind of performance in the face of steady aggression that i would like to see in someone wanting to beat Lopez.

His prime was really brief.By the end of his reign he looked awful.Like every inch an aging past prime fighter, but i don't know the story on him out of the ring so i'm unsure how to take his short time at the top.

 

i will take lopez in this match-up, i have a little of esparragoza and for me he was a good steady boxer with a good punch and a decent chin but nothing spectacular a good tradesman if you like. as already said his opposition was not the highest level but that could be said a lot of alphabet champions .lopez for me has the higher level of competition on his record and a higher level of wins also

 

I'm still not convinced of Antonio's chin...even though with the required beard he may have been able to decision Lopez in a very close fight, I'm now thinking that I'm underselling Lopez...the very thing I've scolded others for doing here in the past. He had the stamina, as did Esparragoza, and that very important ability to end a fight at any time..and this causes the plot to thicken.

 

The beautiful thing about Lopez was his ruggedness and ability to come back and end it all with a great equalizer..either hand..and he had great heart as well.

 

his chin was decent but decent is not iron he could be hurt so lopez as you already stated is always dangerous
what i have been thinking is did esparragoza ever go 15 i dont think he did but i am sure i will be corrected if he did ,those last three rounds the old championship rounds could really tell on some fighters