Najee Lopez is working. He’s always working. “I’m married to the game,” he says, sweat dripping from his face after training.

Lopez is not married. He has no children. He is in that bracket where nothing else matters but boxing. Nothing else counts if it isn’t fighting.

Which is why he is working.

“Three-hundred, sixty-five days we train,” he goes on. “We train and train and train at the headquarters at the ProBox facility. We’re locked in.”

Lopez is a 13-0 (10 KOs) light heavyweight prospect. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, the 25-year-old has had 12 of his fights in Florida, with his next outing in the state set for May 10 in Kissimmee.

He has cracked the WBA top 15, having defeated Lenin Castillo in January. That was scheduled for 10, but Lopez got it done in six, and impressed in the process, claiming the WBA Continental North American title, which pulled him into the ratings. 

“I was super-happy, especially winning that title,” says Lopez. “The fashion I finished him in and you know it was some champions before couldn’t even get him up out of there and the way I did it, I was super happy with my performance. As far as moving forward, I just want to make sure I build on that and keep on showing out, looking good.”

Indeed, Castillo had gone the distance with both Marcus Browne and Dmitriy Bivol, though Callum Smith had stopped him early.

But Lopez knows there is work to do, and that is why he is working. Asked, specifically, what he needs to add to his game, he smiles: “You know, that’s with me and my coach [Marc Farrait] but it’s a whole bunch [of stuff], there’s a whole lot more in my bag. I got so much more to show. You guys ain’t seen nothing yet. Nothing.” 

Of course, the biggest names in the division are the likes of Bivol, Artur Beterbiev and David Benavidez. While Lopez is confident in both his ability and his potential, he knows he is not up there yet with those who don’t only lead the weight class but are all mentioned in and around the mythical pound for pound lists.

“I mean, I’m not that far, if you asking,” he adds of being at 175lbs. “I’m definitely getting there, not necessarily compared [to the best] but in the talks, like where do I see myself in the ring with those guys? So I don’t see it being that far but I definitely got a lot more growing to do, a lot more development but definitely in the near future.”

There is a chance that by the time Lopez is done growing, the Russians might have departed the scene. And despite his ambition, there is no hurry for Lopez. He is learning and, yes, he is working. 

“I’m in this game to show my dominance. I’m in this game for the long haul so if they still here when I get to the top, they can get it and then, of course, with my class I feel like I already proved that I’m the best 175 prospect there is,” Lopez continues.

In the gym, Lopez gets good work alongside stablemates Darrelle Valsaint and Erickson Lubin, and he spars a lot with Edgar Berlanga, who is also trained by Farrait.

“That’s my brother, man. He’s a super, super humble guy but in the ring he’s explosive,” Lopez says of Berlanga. “He’s mean, so just being in there and I’m the same way. His iron sharpens my iron.”

Lopez’s favorite fighter of all-time is Sugar Ray Robinson. Today, he enjoys watching the skills of Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez and, one day – in the not too distant future – he’d like to see his name up in lights in Las Vegas.
“Man, of course, that’s just the fight capital… Growing up seeing Floyd Mayweather fight, looking up to Floyd, pack out the MGM, of course that’s definitely on the bucket list. That’s a dream come true. I definitely want to headline a fight one day at the MGM Grand.”

Lopez is focused on his dreams. He doesn’t drink alcohol. The partying life is passing him by and he’s learned from the mistakes of the older fighters, who slid down a slippery path.

“I just want to be as clean as possible,” he says. 

Lopez was eight years old when he fell for this life. When he started working.

“I just love to fight,” he explains. “Before I started boxing as a kid and then when I got introduced to boxing, my dad… it just came easy. It was like God’s gift. We put a headgear on with gloves. It was the funniest thing in the world to me.”

Years on, the feeling of fighting provokes other emotions. Pre-fight fear has been well-documented, and Lopez explains it colorfully. 

“It’s definitely exciting,” he says, picturing a ring walk. 

“Also at the same time, you get butterflies, you feel like you want to throw up. It don’t even matter who’s your opponent. You know you could be fighting anyone, it’s just, you just want to perform to the best you can. It’s not even about the guy on the other side of the ring. It’s you versus you. It’s the unknown, but I want to be the best I can be when I show up. The fear doesn’t come from my opponent. The fear doesn’t come from nothing but the unknown. Anything can happen in that ring. Anything can happen.”

Lopez believes he is a future star. He has a million-dollar smile and wants to parlay that into million-dollar paydays. He is relishing the journey, too.

“It’s all still new to me, but I’m definitely embracing it,” he says of his career momentum. “It comes with the game. I’m excited. First the Most High, God, Jesus Christ, that’s my motivation but other than that, man, I just want to win. I just want to win and I got a lot to prove in this game.”

And so, with that, he goes back to work. 

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.