By Dan Ambrose: After having faced mostly soft opposition his entire career before 2012, Joesito Lopez (30-6, 18 KO’s) has run through a gauntlet in his last three fights in facing Victor Ortiz, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Marcos Maidana. Lopez lost two of those three fights to Canelo and Maidana and probably got lucky that Victor Ortiz suffered a broken jaw because things were looking bleak for Lopez with him virtually needing either a knockout or to seep the remaining rounds to get the victory.
Last Saturday night, Lopez was really pounded by Marcos Maidana in losing by a 6th round TKO in Carson, California. Although Lopez gave Maidana huge problems through four rounds, he couldn’t handle Maidana’s power once it got past the 4th and he ended up taking some vicious shots in the 5th and 6th rounds before the referee mercifully stopped the fight in the 6th during an especially vicious all-out attack by Maidana.
After the fight, Lopez said he wanted to take a couple of weeks off before getting back in training for what he hopes will be another big fight. I think Lopez’s promoter needs to back him off from the tough fights for now so that Lopez can get a break and build up a few confidence building victories. Right now, Lopez is heading for early journeyman if they keep putting him in with tough guys like Maidana, Canelo and Ortiz.
Lopez has lost his last two fights, and I think it’ll get worse before it gets better for him if he keeps getting matched tough. After a certain point in time it’s not interesting to have an opponent that is getting beaten when he steps up. That’s why Lopez needs to drop down a level and start fighting the softer opponents like the ones that be built his winning resume on.
Lopez said that he has no plans on moving back down to the 140 lb. division. That’s too bad because that’s the only place where he has any hope of having an impact. He’s not strong enough to do anything at welterweight and if he stays in this division he’s going to end up a journeyman quick. He needs to move back down and challenge the likes of Lamont Peterson, Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse.
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