By Jake Donovan

The old saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

For David “The Destroyer” Lopez, the new philosophy becomes, if you can’t fight ‘em, find ‘em. He did just that in outlasting Ossie Duran en route to a ten-round unanimous decision in their ESPN2 televised main event.

The bout marked his 12th at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona, but his first as a junior middleweight in more than a decade.

Lopez worked behind the jab for most of the first round, but expanded his offensive attack in the second round, often throwing one-twos while punching from different angles. His subtle footwork was the difference in the early rounds; Duran spent much of the first half of the bout fighting flat-footed, standing directly in front of Lopez and falling way short in attempted counterpunching attacks.

Duran tried to change up in the third, taking the initiative and letting his hands go. It resulted in Lopez enjoying perhaps his best round of the fight, accentuated by a vicious body attack in his best efforts to slow down the Ghanaian. The same blueprint was offered in the fourth round, with Duran suddenly falling way behind on the scorecards.

Momentum shifted in round five, as Duran offered different angles and outworked Lopez for the first time in the fight. Lopez forced the action at the start of the sixth round, working the body and coming upstairs, forcing Duran to throw up earmuffs in riding out the mild storm.

The action was hardly one-way, as Duran enjoyed success with his jab, though would leave himself open for right hooks and straight lefts whenever letting his hands go. A similar pattern developed at the start of the seventh round, though Duran was able to settle into a groove a minute into the round. Lopez returned to his body attack, forcing Duran to fight from the outside. The distance served as a detriment, as Lopez was able to keep him at the end of his jab.

The tide turned back in Duran’s favor in the eighth, picking off most of Lopez’ punches and firing back with one-twos. Several straight right hands caught the attention of Lopez, who fought more flat-footed in the round than at any other point in the fight.

There was little to separate the two fighters in a tightly-contested and aggressively fought ninth round. Duran was warned for pushing down on the back of Lopez’ head, much to the dismay of the partisan crowd who cheered every Lopez punch and jeered every Duran action. Both fighters enjoyed success with jabs and straight head shots.

Duran opened up the tenth and final round targeting Lopez’ body, though the attack was short-lived. Lopez gained control early in the round, keeping Duran on the outside, but dropped his hands just long enough to get cracked with an overhand right. The Mexican southpaw quickly recovered, coming right back with a straight left.

Action resumed to center ring, where the two fighters spent much of the night. Lopez landed to the body, while Duran connected with several right hands upstairs. Both fighters exchanged punches until the final bell, at which point the crowd alternated cheers for their adopted hometown favorite Lopez and jeers for Duran.

There was plenty of cause to celebrate at fights end, even if the final scores were a little closer than expected. Tallies of 96-94 (twice) and 97-93 were announced for Lopez, who improves to 38-12 (23KO) with his 14th consecutive win.

Duran falls to 23-7-2 (9KO). He is now winless in his last three bouts (0-2-1), having not won in more than two years.

His team insisted before the fight that his future at junior middleweight depends heavily on his performance in his fight. Where he goes from here now depends on several other factors.

Chief among them is the willingness of other contenders at or around the junior middleweight limit. There were no such takers at middleweight, nor did any alphabet opportunities arise, even though Lopez has done nothing but continue to win for the past five years.

Hopefully his luck will change at junior middleweight, a division in desperate need of leadership. More than what was offered tonight will be required for Lopez to become that man, though perhaps his less than overwhelming performance leads to the kinds of opportunities that has long eluded his career.

UNDERCARD

Welterweight prospect Hector Sanchez barely preserved his undefeated record with a disputed decision win over former junior welterweight titlist DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley in their eight round televised co-feature bout.

Sanchez, a 6’2” Puerto Rican beanpole, has dramatically stepped up his level of competition in the past year, but at times found himself in over his head against the more experience, albeit faded, Corley. Such was evident in the third round, when he left himself open along the ropes for a right uppercut that sent him to the canvas for the bout’s lone knockdown.

There was plenty of back and forth action, but the general vibe was that the bout was nip-and-tuck, with the knockdown perhaps providing the margin of victory for the old veteran. The three judges felt differently, all scoring the bout 77-74 in favor of the house fighter. They didn’t do the promoter any favors; Oscar de la Hoya mentioned during the main event the belief that Corley did enough to win, an opinion that was shared with the capacity crowd on hand who vehemently booed the decision.

Nevertheless, Sanchez improves to 18-0 (8KO) with the win. The 34-year old Corley drops to 33-11-1 (19KO), snapping a modest two-fight win streak in the process. Despite the loss, he performed well enough to where at least one more notable bout (and payday) is in his future.

Undefeated junior welterweight Karl Dargan opened up the show with an impressive stoppage of Rudy Valdez in the fourth and final round.

Like his stablemate and cousin of 2004 US Olympic boxer Rock Allen, Dargan is a highly decorated former amateur who is off to a slow start to his career, but making the most of the few opportunities he’s received since turning pro 16 months ago. His televised debut was no exception, having his way with the determined but outgunned Valdez before dropping him and closing the show late in the fight.

The official time was 2:16 of the fourth round.

Dargan improves to 4-0 (2KO); Valdez falls to 2-4 (1KO). After just two fights in his first year and change as a pro, Dargan has now scored back to back knockouts in the span of 34 days.

The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The company’s President, Oscar de la Hoya joined announcers Brian Kenny and Teddy Atlas at ringside midway through the main event. The former three-division lineal world champion spoke cryptically of the details surrounding an April 14 press conference, at which he will officially announce his plans for the future. Nothing was confirmed, beyond de la Hoya’s insistence that he’s reached a definitive decision.
 
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Please feel free to contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .