By Francisco Salazar
Prior to March 20, Abraham Lopez had not stepped in a ring in three years. There were important things he had to accomplish, including completing his education to become a respiratory therapist.
While there are no regrets based on his decision, Lopez wants to pick up where he left off, hoping to secure an opportunity to fight for a world title.
Lopez will fight Alfred Tetteh tonight in a 10 round bout at the Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, Calif. The bout, along with the 10 round bout between Eric Hunter and Antonio Escalante, will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports Deportes.
Lopez (17-0-1, 12 KOs) returned to action on March 20, fighting to an eight round majority decision draw against Juan Carlos Martinez.
The 27 year old Lopez was a solid prospect three years ago when he decided to complete his education. While the itch to fight has always been there, it was hard for Lopez to see fighters he has known since the amateurs do well as pros.
“I’ve known Leo Santa Cruz and Randy Caballero,” Lopez told Boxingscene.com over the phone recently. “I’m very happy for them, but I would like to have that opportunity, considering we started our pro careers around the same time.”
Despite the draw, Lopez is moving forward with his career. He will be fighting Tetteh, a hard-hitting fighter from Ghana who will be fighting for the first time in the United States.
While Lopez has fought the better opposition, he is not overlooking Tetteh on Friday night.
“I know that he is an Olympian and that he has a good record,” said Lopez, who now fights under the Golden Boy Promotions banner. “Fighters from Ghana are strong and I’m sure he’s here to win. He is going to come with everything to put the first loss on my record. I’ve prepared to the best I could to face anything he’s going to being.”
During his three-year hiatus away from the ring, Lopez was always in the gym, waiting for a phone call to take a fight. Lopez was hitting the books just like he was hitting the mitts in the gym, but that did not mean he was not going to walk away or turn down a fight if he was offered one.
Now that he is back in the ring, Lopez can continue towards a path of fighting for a world title. It may not seem easy or it may take some to take him seriously again, but Lopez is up to the challenge.
“It’s frustrating to see all that hard work I put in at the beginning not mean a lot, but I’ve moved on. I’d like to fight as often as possible. I’m doing the best to pick up where I’ve left off.”
“I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing