OAKLAND, Calif. – Kris Lopez adopted a tactical approach when it came to building his son, David Lopez, as a professional.
Kris is the owner of Lightning’s Boxing Gym in Oakland, California, and the trainer/father of the standout welterweight, who is now 8-0 (6 KOs).
Kris spent years in the boxing gym as a fighter first, then a trainer.
“People think fighters are like machines, and come out of this sport without repercussions,” Lopez said.
But he is aware of the damage that fighters take.
His son was a top amateur but he never competed when he was in high school at USA Boxing tournaments. He stayed in the gym but his father opted for him not to put the wear and tear on his body.
“With Dave, he is very talented, so we got away with it, but I don’t do it with other fighters,” Lopez said. “Dave was 14 years old, sparring Karim Mayfield, Stan Martyniouk, and Aaron Coley. That is how we developed him, but we didn’t do too much of it.”
Lopez viewed the sparring sessions as the medal rounds in the Olympics. They didn’t come often but they were a proving ground for the future. Lopez sparred people in or around his skill level but those major milestone events helped him learn and helped him gauge his skills against professionals.
“The reality is the sport is tough, and it does hurt if you make mistakes,” Lopez Snr said. “We didn’t want to put him in a kill-or-be-killed type of sparring at an early age.”
David, now 21, stopped Luis Garcia in two rounds on December 20. It was his only fight of 2025. A few years before, Garcia, had trained with Kris and sparred with David. Around the time David was sparring with Garcia in the East Oakland gym, David had the chance to spar with Terence Crawford. The team got some heat in the local boxing community for not jumping on it.
“Sometimes you will see the young pro going around trying to spar everybody,” Lopez said. “I asked a friend back in the day if it was a good idea for Dave to spar Crawford. They bluntly told me, they don’t like it.”
Kris takes his role seriously as not just David’s father but also as his trainer.
“You have to be in tune with modern-day boxing that encompasses the training aspect of it and the fighting aspect of it,” Lopez said. “With time, there is evolution, and we are in the age of knowledge.”
“How can you get better if you are not evolving? It is just like going to school.”
David is already tabbed as a top up-and-comer. Now comes the hard part; living up to expectations.
“He has to develop, he has to stay sharp, and I am a big believer in floor work,” Lopez said. “The technique you want to execute, you have to practice. Drills, scenarios, stuff like that where you learn but it is safe. He is taking it slow and learning the movements, so he actually knows where he is going. From the floorwork, you can prepare for guys who aren’t as much of a threat and don’t have the same fight IQs. Then, you reach out to guys like Brandon Adams, who said he’d love to work with Dave, guys like that who have experience and who understand you are there to learn.”
