Hilton for me. The body work would slow Lopez down to about 12 punches a round. What did he throw on his premier nights--20? It'd be another loss and an if only fight for Lopez. He just is not the guy with his arm raised at the end of the night.
Out of morbid curiosity, can someone write a well thought out post and put me on my place in regards to Lopez? I hear he's one of the most avoided fighters of the past 30 years, a truly shut out fighter who was too dangerous for his own good... I've seen a few of his matches and was under the impression he had a history of turning in performances where he didn't quite do enough, such as battling to a draw with Ike Quartey despite scoring two knockdowns. What performances of his were otherworldy and really turned people on to him? I remember watching his bout with a blown up in weight, very old and war torn Jorge Vaca when he was still in his prospect stage. Vaca actually gave Lopez hell and all but completely closed one of his much younger opponents eyes!
I wouldn't want to downgrade Hulton that much, no matter how good Lopez was. Hilton was so strong, could hit so hard, and like it's been mentioned, put great effort into his body punches.
Hilton wasn't considered to be much when he was around. Highlight videos can be deceiving. He could be hit all night long. Lopez, on the other hand, no one wanted a part of. His beating of a once defeated Yori Boy, his destruction of Loughran and arguably beating the very dangerous, and equally avoided Quartey were the performances that kept people away.
I think it's mainly the Campas fight that grew his legend. He beat up Campas more one sidedly than Trinidad and Vargas did, and dropped him in the process. He also had a WAR with Aaron Davis, which I think many people forget. Davis started off that fight very well, but Lopez took over after the 4th and beat Davis up the rest of the fight. Granted, many people do overrate Lopez. But what is true is that he was a very big puncher and he threw beautiful combinations at stationary targets. And Hilton was a stationary target who simply lacked Lopez's talent and skill.
