Major upset as Josesito Lopez gets vicious with “Vicious” Victor, a full fight report from the Staples Center

 

By: Nick Bellafatto- Ringside

 

In a marvelous back and forth pitched battle at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this past Saturday night, Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18 KO’s) of Riverside, California would visibly land the harder more appealing shots in many a round to perhaps gain an edge as the underdog, only to see nearby Ventura resident Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KO’s) well up on at least two of the scorecards.

And with Ortiz backing his opponent to the ropes in the ninth frame, this is where the tables turned in that particular round, as well as in the fight for Lopez. For at this juncture Josesito Lopez would counter in combination with all his might, causing unbearable pain to a jaw that according to Ortiz may have been broken earlier in this same round.

“Yes Josesito busted my jaw. I couldn’t close my mouth and it hurt every time he touched me,” commented a still discernable Ortiz. And with that particular barrage landed by Josesito in what would turn out to be the final stage of the bout, Ortiz would go into retreat mode where a hungry and determined opponent would track down and nail not “Vicious” enough Victor yet again before the bell had sounded.

And with Ortiz complaining to referee Jack Reiss in between rounds about his jaw, Reiss took it to mean that Victor didn’t want to continue so that the bout would be waved off forthwith. This even though the Ortiz corner wanted their charge to apparently continue on. What followed was a stunned crowd who became engulfed in a frenzy while an overcome with joy Josesito Lopez came to the realization that he had just won the biggest bout of his life in a weight division he had never fought in.

“I knew I had to fight the fight of my life to win. I told you I was going to shock the world tonight. Today was my day. He hits hard man, but I was never going to quit. I knew it was a close fight on the scorecards, and I knew that I could press him more as the fight went on.”

And pressing matters is exactly what did Victor Ortiz in, as apparently the situation with the jaw would worsen to the point that he didn’t want to go back into the fray. The end result would be that the vacant WBC Silver welterweight title would fall into the hands of Lopez, while a prospective September 15th bout between Victor Ortiz and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez would disintegrate not only before Victor’ eyes, but also before “Canelo” who was in attendance at ringside.

No matter though, as a terrific fight had just taken place, a fight that would make for a stellar rematch itself if it were ever to take place. As for now Ortiz would head straight to the hospital to have his broken jaw tended to so that future plans for the boxer/part time surfer are on hold.
As alluded to, ironically and controversially at the time of the stoppage in a bout where Lopez looked to be at the very least even if not more so the frontrunner, the scorecards would favor Ortiz all the way around by tallies of 86-85, 87-84, and 88-83. With many close rounds where once again most observers had Lopez either even or slightly ahead, 86-85 is quite acceptable. However, the other scores looked to be out of touch so that it appears a knockout or stoppage of some sort was Lopez’ only chance at victory, so as not to disrupt the previously impending bout between Ortiz and Alvarez.

What is for sure is that Josesito Lopez fulfilled his promise to come in and play the role of spoiler, which he no doubt accomplished and in stunning fashion I might add. He in fact stunned the boxing world, as many had already come to the conclusion that a Lopez-Ortiz match-up couldn’t live up to the tenacity or expectation of the scheduled heated rematch between Ortiz and Andre Berto. Of course with Berto off the radar due to testing positive for a banned substance, Lopez would step in and fill the bill.

And fill the bill he did, as the upset minded Lopez didn’t disappoint in any way, shape, or form.
In finality, there is no need to go into a round by round analysis except to say that once again it could be viewed as a close fight with the edge going to the Riverside kid who gave more than he took in return. “I knew I caught him in every round. And with more than a few punches I hurt him. He was like a tree and I was just chopping him down. I am the Mexican Paul Williams.”

Co-main event
In the co-main event of the evening which would feature consummate veteran and WBC #2 ranked Humberto “La Zorrita” Soto (59-8-2, 35 KO’s) of Los Mochis, Mexico versus hard hitting WBC #4 ranked Argentinian fighter Lucas Matthysse (31-2, 29 KO’s), Matthysse would stop the former two division world champion courtesy of a monster right hand on a wide open Soto at the close of the fifth round.

Although Humberto would rise to his feet to beat the count after the bell had sounded, Soto’ corner came to the realization that their fighter was in no condition to continue and would advise referee Raul Caiz Sr. to end matters which he promptly did. In the process, the Argentine fighter captures the vacant WBC Continental Americas junior middleweight belt, as well as wins what was determined to be a title eliminator.

From the very beginning it was quite clear that the edge in power belonged to Lucas Matthysse, who would by the third round open up to belt the Mexican fighter around the ring. However, what was also evident was that Soto was in this fight to give it his all, as he would absorb what Lucas had to offer, throwing back in combination to ward off his opponent while exciting the crowd on numerous occasions.

Round four would see much of the same with the Argentine slugger landing big rights and left hooks to edge his adversary. But similarly in the fourth “La Zorrita” would have moments of his own, fighting in spurts with flowing combinations. The problem for Soto was that his punches lacked sufficient force so as to be more effective.

In the fifth frame Humberto out-boxed and out-scored his opponent so that it appeared everything was going his way, that is until the close of the round when Lucas would catch the veteran pugilist with a right, then left hook that staggered Soto to the ropes where the Argentinian followed up to land a huge right on a defenseless adversary.

That final blow would drop the Mexican fighter at the bell, who once again was able to upright himself before the count of ten. On shaky ground though, referee Raul Caiz Sr. would ask Soto to walk to him which he did, but not without the assistance of the ropes. In light of this it is somewhat surprising that the referee allowed him to return to his stool.

In any event, Soto’ corner in observance of this had thought better of allowing their fighter to continue so that they would mercifully intervene on his behalf. The end result, Lucas Matthysse had become only the second man to ever gain a stoppage against Humberto in sixty nine fights, the first stoppage coming at the hands of Hector Marquez some twelve years ago.

Early undercard results

In the first bout of the evening in a schedule eight round junior featherweight attraction, Randy Caballero (15-0, 8 KO’s) of Coachella, California would stop Jamal Parram of St. Louis, Missouri (5-6, 1 KO) for a fifth round TKO stoppage. The time was 1:50.

Parram would be warned for holding on more than one occasion and the reasons for his actions were quite obvious. For as soon as Caballero was fully able to let his heavy hands go they would visibly damage his counterpart, who was by the third round reduced to surviving.

Randy would put the finishing touches on the St. Louis native in the fifth round, dropping him twice with the same punch, a left uppercut to the liver. And although Parram would rise from each of these knockdowns, he would thereafter take a knee upon receiving yet another solid combination from Caballero, prompting referee Jose Cobian to call a halt to the action.

In the second of two eight-round bouts, this time at junior welterweight, although the taller Omar Figueroa (18-0-1, 14 KO’s) would back his opponent Alain Hernandez (18-11-2, 10 KO’s) to the ropes and throw non-stop to open the bout, of all the punches it seemed like there were only one or two solid shots.

With that said, and although Hernandez didn’t throw back much looking to perhaps respond at an appropriate moment, referee Jose Cobian would step in and call a halt at 1:34 of the first round for what by all accounts looked to be a premature stoppage. As a result, Figueroa gets the W and Hernandez walks away with the knowledge that he can’t always trust in other peoples judgment.

In a junior middleweight bout where Jermell Charlo (18-0, 8 KO’s) of Houston Texas was slightly outworking a game adversary in Denis Douglin (14-2, 8 KO’s) over the course of the first four rounds, a straight right hand landed previously by Charlo had found the mark yet again. This time however, that same straight right had visibly more force on it to drop Denis in the fifth round.

Able to be the count, Douglin of Marlboro, New Jersey wouldn’t be able to maintain his balance, staggering not once but twice so that referee Wayne Hedgepeth would react by waving the bout off. The time was 1:12 of round 5.

In a so called four round swing bout between junior middleweights Michael Finney of Pahrump, Nevada (9-0, 7 KO’s) and Joel Vargas of Durango, Mexico (3-7-1, 3 KO’s), a totally willing Vargas was stalking and swinging most of the way.

However, the reality was that Finney was by far the more polished of the two, a boxer puncher who landed the cleaner harder punches to both body and head throughout, while defensively Michael picked off most everything the Mexican fighter would offer up. The end result would be a unanimous decision shutout 40-36 all the way around in favor of Finney who keeps his undefeated record intact.

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