By Ian Aldous: After seeing his career explode into the mainstream this year, Josesito Lopez (30-5) hopes to see more big fights coming his way in 2013. A career-defining win was shortly followed by a devastating stoppage loss, albeit in a weight division he probably isn’t built for. This week Josesito Lopez took some time to talk with me about his breakout year in boxing.
Having beaten the then unbeaten, Mike Dallas Jr. via seventh round stoppage, Josesito Lopez hoped to cap off 2011 with another win over an unbeaten fighter. Unfortunately a split-decision defeat against Jessie Vargas may have harmed his chances of securing a title fight. Little did he know what 2012 had in store for him. “After that tough split-decision loss, I just wanted to get back in there and get a ‘W’ no matter what. I was preparing for a fight; I think it was June 22nd against Kendall Holt, a fight that never happened because he backed out of the fight. That’s when I came across the opportunity to fight Victor Ortiz and I jumped right on it. I was already in good shape and took the opportunity and made the most of it.”
As things panned out, the opportunity to face Victor came at a great time for 28 year-old Josesito, having just seen a big fight fall through. “I think it was about four/four and a half weeks before the fight and actually when I learned that I wasn’t gonna be fighting Kendall Holt, it was the day before the whole steroid thing happened (Andre Berto tested positive for Nandrolone ahead of his proposed rematch with Victor Ortiz). So, within two or three days of when my fight fell out, we knew we were already fighting Ortiz, so it just all kinda happened quick.”
To use a cliché, the chance to fight Victor Ortiz was potentially life changing. Ortiz was being primed for a huge championship bout with Saul Alvarez and many people saw Lopez as a step on the ladder that Ortiz would easily take care of. “Actually, I felt extremely overlooked. They thought it was gonna be a tune-up fight for the ‘Canelo’ fight. I felt disrespected and it just motivated me a lot more to want to win and spoil things.”
The manner of his impressive and against the odds victory was complete at the end of the ninth round. The result was a broken jaw for Ortiz and a career in regression. Josesito was sure throughout the fight that he was hurting Victor. “Actually, almost every round I would say, I felt that I was hurting Ortiz. I could feel him basically at my mercy. I felt that as the fight went on, I was landing more punches and I was coming on to him. I definitely felt like he felt my power. He knew by the fourth round that it was gonna be a tough fight. I like that, he definitely wasn’t expecting that.”
Having never really been a full-blown welterweight, the fight with Ortiz saw Lopez compete against a bigger man on the night. As tough as that was, a move up to 154lbs for a WBC championship fight with Saul Alvarez was always going to be far tougher. As hard as it was, it was clearly a fight that he couldn’t refuse to take. “Yeah, it’s tough, especially if it’s something you’re not used to, if it’s not natural, it was a tough move (up in weight). The jump from 140lbs to 147lbs wasn’t too harsh, I know I didn’t really have the size for a welterweight but I felt like it was still an advantage for me. I felt a lot stronger at 147lbs.”
The light-middleweight division was always going to be a step too far. Having now seen him up close, Josesito has nothing but respect for the ability and impending superstar status that ‘Canelo’ Alvarez demands. “Before the fight, I thought he was pretty good. His opponents never really gave him a tough fight, I would say. I think his fight with me, I think that’s probably the best he’s ever looked and he’s definitely stepping up to another level. He has improved a lot and I think his fight against me was pretty much perfect. I think he did a really good job and I have nothing bad to say about him.”
So, what’s next for Josesito Lopez? “I should be expecting to get back in the ring late January or sometime in February. We’re actually kinda working around the date now. I was forced to take the little longer break or longer vacation than I wanted to because I fought two of my toughest fights within three months of each other. It’s a very well needed break; I’d been training non-stop since about March, every day. I definitely needed a break! Going back in there late January/early February, any weight class from 140lbs to 147lbs, we should be knowing within the next two to three weeks.”
Comments are closed.