At Flyweight. Would Lopez still be effective at that weight? I would have loved to see how he would have done against another well rounded technical boxer-puncher like Arbachakov. What do you think?
Arbachakov too big, too well schooled. Lopez was made for 105. I probably wouldn't take Eder Jofre to beat Salvador Sanchez.
I'm guessing this kind of match up is similar to Salvador Sanchez vs. Roberto Duran. I've always wanted to know how Lopez dealt with a fighter similar to him, especially a guy as technically skilled and disciplined as Arbachakov.
Arbachakov doesn't really have a notable size advantage, it's not like a lightweight vs a feather or a bantam vs a feather at all.Lopez was a freak at making weight, but obviously had a 112 comfortable frame and would have been a solid built Fly had he been around before the junior divisions, even if he's fighting at around 110 or so. One thing to note between the two of them is Arbachakov was much more reluctant to let varied punches go, usually staying in his measuring jab\right hand comfort zone for large stretches of fights.He threw all the punches really well and had a sublime left hook, but they were only rarely utilised. Might lend an element of predictability to his offensive work against another top-notch boxer puncher like Lopez, though yuri has the better footwork of the two imo which could balance things out.
How do you rate Yuri's punching power, lora? In his earlier fights against Chin, Kittikasem he displayed very good power. Maybe Yuri could drop Lopez with one of his well-timed counters?
It's a tough call but I'd have to give the edge to Arbachakov due to the size advantage. Both well schooled great boxers though so it'd be a fun match-up.
Thanks. I love the Kittikasem fights, both of them. Such a beautiful display of controlling the distance to land pin-point power punches.
To this day I still think Arbachakov had the best straight right hand in the lower weight class. Yes, even better than Lopez, although he was a great right handed puncher himself. Lopez did have a better uppercut. I think Arbachakov would have beaten Lopez due to his size and power to go along with his skills. He showed just as much boxing finesse as Lopez with slightly better footwork.
I haven't seen a better right hand. Closest thing to Tszyu's I've ever seen. Hard fight to call with two superb technicians who vary slightly. I blame the addition of 105 and 108 for the impediment, however. Had they never existed, you would have had Lopez, Arbachakov, Johnson, Carbajal, Gonzalez, etc. competing alongside one another. It might have been a little golden era. Lopez wasn't coming out of that with his shiny '0', either.
105 and 108 are both pointless divisions, but ESPECIALLY 105.... theres no one who can make a case that a 105 division was ever needed. Completely useless division. You're 100% right. Lopez, Gonzalez, Carbajal, Arbachakov, and Johnson should have all been in the same division. I think Lopez goes 2-2 against those guys. I think he beats Carbajal and Gonzalez, but loses to Too Sharp and Yuri.
