MASHANTUCKET, Conn. – With a potential title shot on the line, Adam Lopez and Roman Reynoso fought to a 10-round draw in the main event of the 15-year anniversary telecast of ShoBox: The New Generation Friday on SHOWTIME® from Foxwoods Resort Casino.

In attendance ringside before the fight, newly crowned IBF Junior Featherweight World Champion Jonathan Guzman (22-0, 22 KOs) announced that he’d like fight the winner of Lopez-Reynoso, raising the stakes for this matchup of 122-pound prospects.  While the fight was close and entertaining, analyst Steve Farhood, who has called all 219 ShoBox telecasts, didn’t believe either fighter did enough to earn an immediate title shot against Guzman.

The fight looked like a toss-up heading into the 10th – with Lopez leading by just one connect after nine rounds – and the Ronnie Shields pupil came up with a huge final round rally.  The undefeated prospect hurt Reynoso (18-1-2, 7 KOs) in the final seconds with a flurry of shots, forcing the Argentine spit out his mouthpiece to buy himself nearly 30 seconds of rest.  Seemingly out on his feet, Reynoso somehow survived the onslaught without falling to the canvas before the final bell.  Lopez (15-0-1, 7 KOs) out-landed Reynoso 34-21 overall and 34-20 in power shots in the final round, but it wasn’t enough to earn him the victory.

Judge Don Ackerman saw Lopez a 96-94 winner, while Bill Morande had it 97-93 Reynoso, and Peter Hary cast the deciding ballot at 95-95.  All three judges scored the last round 10-9 for Lopez.  Had Reynoso fell to the canvas in the final seconds, the 10-8 round would have given Lopez the win.

“It was a tough fight.  He didn’t want to engage,” said Lopez, who out-landed Reynoso 158-144 overall and 131-125 in power shots.  “He’s slick and experienced and a good fighter.  I feel that this was my best performance on ShoBox.  I have been working on new things with Ronnie Shields and it showed in there.  I know I hurt him in the last round.

“The decision was bullsh*t.  He could not hit me.”

“It was a close fight, but I feel I won,” Reynoso said.  “He never hurt me.  The only thing that surprised me is that he was more aggressive than in other fights.  I hurt my hand from hitting him.”