He was kinda tough to get a bead on. He was a good boxer, but not real slick; he could punch some, but wasn't a real big banger. Mostly, he outworked you. Very tough, fed on the emotions of the Sacramento crowds (he very, very rarely left home to fight), and at the end of the fight, seemed to get the job done. He reminded me a bit of Bobby Chacon, with whom he sparred quite a bit and even professed to having learned a few things from, like sticking out your chin, and pulling it back when your opponent starts to punch, then countering him silly. Good honest, workmanlike, yet at times flashy fighter who had enough skills and speed to track down and belabor the boxers, and was fast enough to outbox the punchers and brawlers. His fight with Lockridge in 1989 was their Fight Of The Year. I was very surprised to see him consummately outfight the tough and cagey Paez as well. That showed me a lot.
I saw quite a bit of Lopez during his heyday, and I grew to like him a lot. He was a massive, massive draw at home and was always in crowd-pleasing fights. When Jon-Jon Molina beat him due to a cut eye, the Sacramento crowd started a mini-riot, throwing stuff into the ring and stuff like that. Lopez reminds me of some of the old-school fighters in that he always came to fight and he was always there at the end, throwing punches. Also, he wasn't picky...Lopez would fight anyone. Like Sal said, he had the skills to beat most of the fighters in the super featherweight class, including the very slick Molina. (2/3, if I remember corrctly) He also had a great two fight series with WBA champ Brian Mitchell, drawing the first but losing the second fight. Nonetheless, he was always competitive in his fights.
Lopez Was A Tough,fun Fighter 2 Watch.lockridge Floored Him Very Heavily In One Of Their Fights-thought He Was Done For The Night But He Got Up To Win.fair Play To Him. Used To Catch His Fights On Central Sportsworld Here In The Uk
.............I do, yes. He had an extra gear or two that Haugen didn't have. By that I guess I mean he was faster and had more power. He also beat better opposition and didn't smoke as much pot.
Great summary - he was a fairly well-rounded fighter but didn't do any one thing spectacularly. IMO, his best wins were his rubber match w/ arch rival John John Molina (a very underrated fighter in his own right IMO), in which he pulled out a close decision w/ a late round KD, & his dominant win over Paez in a much ballyhooed contest between 2 popular network TV attractions. His biggest career fight was probably his 1st attempt @unification w/ Brian Mitchell, in which I (& many others) thought Lopez was lucky to get a draw. In the rematch (in which Lopez lost his title on the scales IIRC), Mitchell turned in one of the best performances of his long career & outslugged him decisively. A supposedly "aging" Lopez rebounded well by traveling up to Maine & upsetting local hero Joey Gamache to become a 2-weight titleholder. Later, he moved up to 140 & won a crossroads fight w/ an aging Haugen to get himself a shot @Chavez's title. I thought he boxed well early vs. the aging Chavez, but none of his punches had any impact on Chavez, who just casually strolled through them & gradually busted up Lopez for a late stoppage. After that, Lopez slipped into journeyman status for the remainder of his career, but he did lose a criminally underrated, seesaw battle w/ Freddie Pendleton during that time.
You know, it is interesting you say that because I used to live out there and absolutely nobody called him "The Tiger" but rather Tony "The Emotional Vampire" Lopez. Yet they loved him for it.
Very tough fighter with a lot of guts and fun to watch. Not an ATG by any means but definitely worth a watch
Every one of his fights in Sacramento was like New Years Eve and the 4th of July rolled into one. Just a tremendous fan base that simply loved the guy and Tony always did all he could to please his fans. Wish we had more like him.
I heard he started his career with the moniker "The King of Ennui," but then someone told him that isn't actually the name of a Middle Earth kingdom and he changed it to "The Tiger" after mulling things over during breakfast one day.
One of my favourite fighters. So entertaining and down to earth. Salsanchezfan superly summed up Lopez´s style perfectly. Had some brilliant fights: Lockridge I (the rematch and Paez fights were his best performances) Molina III (such a great fight, 1st was pretty good too with Lopez winning a controversial decision) Greg Haugen (underrated fight where Lopez blasts the slick boxing Haugen) Joey Gamache (travels to Portland to beat undefeated two weight champion and slowly wears down his faster opponent before taking him out in 11) Freddie Pendleton (as mentioned by Bolo specialist a great little see saw battle and last great moment from Lopez) Other notable fights: Tony Pep (quick destruction of classy Canadian Champion before challenging Lockridge, Pep would go on to win Commonwealth title and journey to Britain to beat off 3 challengers would still be around to fight Mayweather Jr and Hatton) Tyrone Jackson (completely dominate the big punching Jackson. After outboxing him over 7 rounds takes him out in the 8) Lupe Gutierrez (Gutierrez was a brave swarmer but Lopez took him to pieces in 6)
