Is there really any doubt that he's the best ever in the lower weight classes? His, at least? Thoughts?
Lopez is on the verge of being Great; IMO he will canonized in the next 20 years... But he will probably not overtake Panco Villa or Jimmy Wilde. And as Wilde often beat bantamweights whilst weighing under 100lbs himself, he was small even for a Straweight.
...........If that's any kind of measure, then Lopez too must be considered. Remember how the rematch with Alvarez went; Alvarez was significantly overweight and came into the ring at something like 115. Lopez was still able to clearly beat him.
Of course, Lopez is on the verge of Greatness, he is IMO one of the finest 40 fighters to ever of been a pro boxer.
No, I only consider 35 fighters Great. The word Great needs to be a very special if it is to mean anything; thus IMO there should only be 35 or so, Great fighters in the 150 years or so, history of Queensberry Rules.
Thank god somebody is on the same page as I am..... .....there are so many here at ESB that will say that Alvarez got robbed in their rematch. I thought that while in a competitive fight, Lopez clearly outboxed, while still landing the harder and cleaner punchez. After the fight, Lopez' face looked beat up, even more so than Alvarez'..... .....I could'nt believe it afterward when I saw their faces, because I had clearly Lopez up on my scorecard. What do you think of that Sal??? My thinking was that Lopez who throughout his career rarely got hit, his skin was'nt toughened for the abuse to get hit as much as Alvarez did get to him. Lopez clearly hit Alvarez harder and more often, but it was Lopez who looked the worse for wear in his face!:? Lopez' face was'nt swollen, but he had several cuts around his face and eye area's!
.............To be honest, the raw slices under Lopez's eyes (both of them, if memory serves) are what I remember most about that fight. I'll have to throw that one in the DVD player again. I also remember there being quite a lot of unintentional butting going on. Am I off on that one? Damn; I gotta watch that one again. Been a long time.......
If you see it, let us know on this thread what your thoughts are. I have the fight also, but my boxing collection is terrible organized. Unorganized is the better word for it. It would be nearly impossible to single out a fight I may have and find it. You're right however, Alvarez is a Roberto Duran type that would use any means necessary (illegal) to gain an advantage!:yep .....that may explain some of the scratches on Lopez. Alvarez could very well have used the glove portion that covers his wrist to rub on Lopez' face. I've heard stories of fighters using their laces and rub down on a fighters face. I heard Ray Leonard often say that both his ears were bloodied from Duran grinding his glove laces their in thier match in montreal!
I thought Lopez deserved the nod in the second fight; in my mind, I think the first fight was the probably the one that Alvarez could dispute. He was coming on before the fight was stopped due to Lopez's cuts, and, as I recall, the point that he was docked (due to an unitentional butt) played a factor in the final scorecards. Still, a lot of the rounds were close in both fights, so an argument could be made for any result.
