By Jim Dower: Number #4 ranked WBC middleweight contender David Lopez (36-12, 23 KOs) overcame an uneven start to come back and stop the tough Billy Lyell (16-6, 3 KOs) in the 5th round of a scheduled 10-round bout on Friday night at the Desert Diamond Casino, in Phoenix, Arizona. After taking a lot of shots from Lyell, and losing most of the first four rounds on my card, Lopez finally woke up and came to live in the 5th round, first nailing Lyell, 23, with a right uppercut then a right hook that sent him down on his back. The fight was then stopped at 2:10 by referee Nico Perez.
Lopez, 30, a southpaw who at the number #4 spot in the WBC, is only a fight or three away from a title shot, found himself getting hit with repeated left hands by Lyell in the opening two rounds was unable to answer back with anything big enough to turn off the offense firepower of Lyell. Indeed, Lopez traditionally a slow starter in his fights, had a tough time getting warmed up in the opening rounds. He looked a step slow, his punches appearing far slower than the faster, more active Lyell. In the first two rounds, Lyell often tagged Lopez with hard left hands, snapping his head back. Lopez pressured him often, but in this case it wasn’t the effective type of pressure than Antonio Margarito used against Miguel Cotto in their fight last week.
It was more of a slow plodder, coming after Lyell in slow motion, taking shots while trying to get in position to throw his big hooks. Having seen Lopez in other fights, most notably in his easy 10-round unanimous decision in June 2007, it was disappointing to see him take shots and lose rounds to a fighter that I consider to be far lesser than him.
Lopez continued to take punishment in the 3rd round, getting hit with left hands, uppercuts and a lot of jabs throughout the round. Lopez came back to land some good shots of his own, but in the last minute of the round Lyell landed some big shots that landed cleanly to the head of Lopez. Lyell was just too fast for Lopez during this time of the fight, keeping him getting his positioning to set up to throw his body shots.
If you know anything about Lopez, he’s a deliberate fighter that needs to get in position each time that he throws his big body shots. However, if like Lyell was doing successfully, you hit Lopez enough times before he gets into position, he seems not to know what to do, and flounders a bit.
This was the case against Lyell. I figured sooner or later, though, that Lyell would either tire and stop punching, which would allow Lopez to setup for his big body shots, or he’d make a mistake and trying to fight on the inside where Lopez is much more stronger.
In the 4th and 5th rounds, Lyell moved well, firing off left hand and left hand to the face of Lopez and keeping the fight firmly in his command. The 4th was just as one-sided as the other three rounds, with Lyell giving Lopez a pounding. However, in the 5th round, Lopez came out with a much more determined look to him, winging big shots to the body and head. The end finally came when Lyell attempted to come inside to throw a left hand and was tagged by a big right uppercut from Lopez.
The punch caused Lyell to step back a foot, which set him up perfectly for a beautiful right hook from Lopez that landed right on the button, knocking Lyell to the canvas on his back. The fight was then stopped at 2:10 of the 5th round by Nico Perez. Though Lopez got the win, I find it hard to imagine him beating the likes of Kelly Pavlik, who if both keep winning in the future, Lopez may end up facing a little further down the line. By the way Lopez fought tonight, I see him lasting about two, maybe three rounds with a big hitter like Pavlik.