By Luis Sandoval
After overcoming an injury and switching opponents, Josesito Lopez will finally make his return to the ring on Friday, December 13th when he takes on Mike Arnaoutis at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA. This will mark Lopez’s second fight of 2013 as he hopes to cap off the year with a victory after suffering back to back losses to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Marcos Maidana.
Lopez has earned the name “The Riverside Rocky” for his upset victory over Victor Ortiz last year where he broke Ortiz’s jaw and ruined plans for a big fight between Ortiz and Canelo Alvarez. Lopez would go on to capitalize on his victory as it led to big fights with Alvarez and Maidana while Ortiz went into a hiatus waiting for his jaw to fully heal.
Now that Ortiz has his scheduled return to the ring in January, a rematch between him and Lopez could happen sometime next year. Ortiz has been vocal about wanting to get his shot at redemption as he took to social media to get his point across. BoxingScene caught up with Lopez to ask for his thoughts on a rematch with Ortiz and if it’s a fight he wants as well.
“Yeah, I don’t need that fight. He needs that fight. So he’s going to have to work for it. If he wants it, I’d be willing to do it for the right things. We’ll see after my fight. I won’t talk before this fight but after this fight we’ll see how he does and then maybe we can work something out” Lopez would tell BoxingScene.
Lopez knows all about upsets as he produced arguably the biggest one in 2012 when he defeated Ortiz and while he’s open to a rematch, his sole focus is on Mike Arnaoutis and getting past that hurdle before any other fights can be discussed.
The Welterweight division continues to be flooded with talent and Lopez will have plenty of options to choose from next year if he beats Arnaoutis. He promises there are big things in store for 2014 but didn’t name any names when asked who he’d be gunning for.
“[Npbody] in particular but big things are coming in 2014. It should be a good year but first things first and I got to take care of business on the 13th of December against a tough warrior like Mike Arnaoutis. I’m expecting a good tough fight and if all goes well, we got good things coming” said Lopez.
You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter & Instagram @Truewest007.