Tribute to Tony the Tiger Lopez

CBS Sports Spectacular fighter.

He fought all the top fighters of the 1990-99 era,
including the "main man" Julio Cesar Chavez.

Underrated in my opinion.

http://boxrec.com/boxer/509

 

Good Video. I live in Sacramento and I got to see Tony Lopez fight at Arco Arena a few times. He was an excellent Jr. Lightweight and even managed to win a belt at Lightweight. He was always worth the $. Later on Sacramento had perhaps a better Jr. Lightweight Champion in Chico Corrales but he wasn`t able to garner the type of following that Tony Lopez did. He could fill up the joint.

I believe his best win in a pure boxing sense was his rubber match with John John Molina up in Reno Nevada. Molina was a fast, smart boxer whose style was a tough one for Lopez. The Tiger put Molina on the canvas and swept the 2nd half of the fight.

The knock on Lopez was that he wouldn't defend his belt away from Sacramento . Later in his career he got the chance to quiet those critics by going to Maine and knocking out Joey Gamache for the Lightweight Championship. He again had to rally late to get the knock out via his overhand right.

In all he fought Rocky Lockridge, John John Molina, Jorge Paez, Brian Mitchell, Greg Haugen and even gave a good account of himself against JCC.

Tony Lopez was a good fighter.

 

I'm a Mitchell fan, but one simply has to give Lopez his props.

He had an attractive come-forward style, was a good boxer and wasn't scared to brawl. I think he fought in a pretty tough area against some good dudes. In a softer era he would have carved them up like Christmas dinner.