In the moments after Najee Lopez came back from the brink to knock out Manuel Gallegos last Friday, he wasn’t thinking about how the fight would dominate that weekend’s boxing discussions on social media, where it’d place in Fight of the Year discussions, or how it would impact his momentum for a world title opportunity.
He was thinking of being on his bed up in his hotel room, enjoying the well-deserved victory he was about to have.
As he later dug into the wagyu tomahawk steak, macaroni cheese and caviar pancakes that he had ordered that night, it became apparent that he was part of something special. And indeed, his phone did not stop buzzing for days, much like the fans who witnessed his thrilling eighth round stoppage win at Kissimmee, Florida’s Osceola Heritage Park, which headlined a ProBox TV card.
Lopez, wincing away blood from the second round on, and down in the seventh, found the reserves needed to turn the fight around 180 degrees the following round, knocking out the iron-chinned Gallegos.
For Lopez, 16-0 (13 KOs), the reaction has been one of much welcomed appreciation.
“I felt great after the fight, all the love, all that attention the fight attracted. It’s great that the fight ended like that,” said Lopez, 26, of Atlanta. “Beating a guy like that in that fashion, I knew it was inevitable.”
He also knew that a determined convalescence was inevitable. Instead of just laying out by the pool and flipping through Netflix, Lopez has been doing his active post-fight recovery, which includes hyperbaric chambers, massages and hot baths with epsom salt, helping to relieve the soreness and relax his body and mind following a tough fight.
Marc Farrait - the light heavyweight’s trainer contender since his original trainer and father Hakim “Tito” Lopez passed in 2020 - had always known that his fighter had a warrior’s heart, but he was impressed with how he handled the adversity of the cut, which had impaired his vision for the final seven rounds of the fight. Farrait says the game plan had always been to either stay inside of Gallegos’ power or all the way out of range, using his jab to dictate distance while picking him apart from distance. That became virtually impossible, Farrait says, due to the cuts - three that he counted - which, though not deep, were in bad spots in a way that impaired his vision.
“That ring was too small to box with a cut eye. That made him want to fight,” said Farrait. The angles were coming in too quick, and then Najee just said, let me exchange. I don't think he fell in love with [exchanging punches]. The game plan was to fight at range, and it probably would have ended up similarly [if not for the headbutt], but with less blood.”
Lopez described the impact that the blood had on him, saying that the drips into his right eye were a distraction throughout.
“It wasn't burning or nothing, it was just blurry. Every time I blinked, it was dark. I just couldn’t see out of that eye. It was covered in blood. It was red,” said Lopez.
“I definitely expected Gallegos to be a real tough guy, but of course, you don't plan for things like cuts to happen. The fight took a turn, it was just a war after that.”
How would the fight have gone if not for the cut? “I would have got him out of there in two,” insists Lopez.
While the first six rounds were nonstop action, with the momentum shifting with each exchange, it was the final two rounds that made it a classic. Lopez began the seventh by stunning Gallegos and sending him to the ropes, but, in his haste to end the fight, he walked into a right hand that knocked him down for just the second time in his career, though he says it was a “flash knockdown” and wasn’t seriously hurt.
“I made a mistake. I just got caught with a real good shot. We are talking about another strong guy that was still in the fight,” said Lopez. “I got back up, and I just continued to put on a beating. I feel like the pressure I applied, it just broke him down the very next round.”
The irony for Gallegos is that, just as it was a cut on Lopez that turned his fortunes in the second, the one he suffered himself in the seventh hastened his own decline. Gallegos was cut moments after the knockdown, as their heads once again collided. From that moment, the fight was all Lopez.
“I knew I had him hurt, and I couldn't let him off the hook, and I just reeled him in, and I got the job done,” said Lopez.
At the time of stoppage, two judges had the fight even at 66-66, while the third had Lopez ahead, 67-65.
Though Lopez is rated in the top 15 by all four major sanctioning bodies - the highest being No. 6 with the WBA - he admits he still has some distance to cover in order to close the gap and force a world title opportunity. He is content to take it fight by fight, day by day, saying he’ll be back in the gym full-time in a few weeks, with Farrait envisioning Lopez to return to the ring in four to five months.
“I just want to keep winning. I'm always here for the next good fight,” said Lopez.
“Man, I'm still climbing up the ladder. Just know that I'm on the way.”
