By Craig Daly: Luis Alberto Lopez (29-2, 16 KOs) insists that he definitely won his fight with Joet Gonzalez (26-4, 15 KOs), hurting him and landing the better punches last Friday night at the American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas. The judges would seem to back Lopez up because they had him winning a wide 12 round unanimous decision.
The scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. Where Gonzalez lost the fight was the way he gave away rounds in the first half of the contest by not cutting off the ring well as he should and failing to throw a lot of punches.
A victory was within Gonzalez’s grasp if he’d done just a little extra to impress the judges, but he couldn’t get it done. It looked like Joet was confused by Lopez’s unorthodox fighting style and didn’t get comfortable until the later rounds when he was behind on the scorecards.
Luis Alberto Lopez: “I thought I could knock him out, but he’s a true Mexican warrior,” said Lopez to Top Rank Boxing after the fight.
“I think he’s in the top 10 of the fighters I’ve been working with and fighting against,” said Lopez about Joet Gonzalez. “I thought it was close fight, but I won, and I won clearly.
“I connected with the better punches, and that’s why he has his face like that. Firstly, I want to do a unification, and after a unification, I will definitely go up to the 130s.
“It would be perfect,” said Lopez when asked if he would unify against WBO champion Robeisy Ramirez.
Joet Gonzalez: “I prepared to the fullest, but I was truly disappointed in my performance, but I did feel the fight was closer than the scorecards said. I did feel like I landed some good shots with the pressure.
“I’m not sure,” said Joet when asked where he goes from here with his career. “I’m going to go back home. Rest, talk to my manager and my team, and we’ll go from there.”
