By Dan Ambrose: Welterweight Josesito Lopez (30-6, 18 KO’s) will be trying to stop his 2-fight losing streak next month in a scheduled 10-round fight against 34-year-old journeyman Mike Arnaoutis at the Fantasy Springs Casino, in Indio, California, USA.
Both fighters are coming off of losses, but Lopez has lost to the much better opposition in stoppage defeats against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Marcos Maidana. In contrast, Arnaoutis has lost his last two fights against Chris Algieri and Issouf Kinda.
Lopez can’t fall apart and lose this fight if he wants to remain as a viable trial horse for the top fighters, which is kind of what Lopez’s career has turned into since he moved up to 147. He doesn’t have the power or the speed to beat the top welterweights, and he probably should move back down to 140 if he wants to have any chance at winning a world title.
By Chris Williams: In a night of mismatches, typical of Golden Boy Promotions fights, James Kirkland stopped Joel Julio in the 6th round at The Tank in San Jose, CA. Kirkland, 24, was simply too strong for Julio, and got the better of him in every exchange during the short bout. Kirkland landed with the better shots, cutting Julio and hurting him as the rounds progressed.
By Manuel Perez: Tomorrow night for a change boxing fans will be served up an excellent fight card with light middleweight contender James Kirkland (24-0, 21 KOs) taking on Joel Julio (34-2, 31 KOs), super featherweight contender and former featherweight champion Robert Guerrero (23-1, 16 KOs) facing undefeated Indonesian Daud Cino Yordan (23-0, 17 KOs) and light welterweight contender Victor Ortiz (23-1-1, 18 KOs) facing ring technician Mike Arnaoutis (21-2-2, 10 KOs) at The Tank, in San Jose, California.