By Thomas Gerbasi, photo by Bryan Crowe/fightwireimages.com

January 28, 2011. It was the day 26-year old Josesito Lopez went old school on Mike Dallas Jr. Talented, highly touted and expected to hand the Riverside, California product his fourth professional loss, Dallas instead got pressured, taken into deep waters, roughed up and then knocked out in the seventh round.

“That’s pretty much what we had planned and exactly what ended up happening,” he said. “He (Dallas) has never been tested, had never faced someone with the qualities that I have, and I put all that to the test to see if he could take it, and within two, three rounds I knew the way the fight would be going.”

It’s a fight that should make the now 17-1-1 Dallas better in the future, while also sending a direct signal to managers and promoters that coddle prized prospects with opponents that don’t prepare them for their step up to the next level. With the exception of talented fellow prospect Lanard Lane, Dallas’ 2010 dance card was comprised of wins over 6-10 Devarise Crayton, Lenin Arroyo (loser of six straight), Daniel Gonzalez (loser of 12 straight), Genaro Trazancos (loser of five of his previous six), and Fabian Luque (loser of four in a row).

Conversely, Lopez’ pre-Dallas slate included 25-5-2 Sergio Rivera (winner of five of his previous seven), 21-1-1 Marvin Cordova, Anthony Mora (loser of three in a row), trial horse Sergio De La Torre, and Patrick Lopez (winner of four in a row leading up to the bout). It’s boxrec math at its finest, but a week ago, the difference between a talented boxer in a sporting event and a hungry veteran in a fight was evident. And that type of grit is something you aren’t born with; you develop it the hard way.

“I’ve got quite a bit of experience,” he said. “I didn’t do too much in the amateurs – I had about 70 fights – but as a pro, I have over 30 fights right now, so I’ve gotten to see a lot and I’ve had to go through a lot. I had to face a lot of adversity coming up and I’ve been forced to cope with defeat and I’m not ready to do that again.”

When the ESPN2 bout was over, it gave Lopez what he needed at this point in his career – more national television exposure, the NABF junior welterweight crown, and maybe most importantly, a higher world sanctioning body ranking. All those things combined may just be enough to propel him into the kind of fights he’s earned.

“I’m in there 110%,” he said. “I know what it takes to be a champion and I’m willing to sacrifice everything. I’ve invested a lot of time into this, so now hopefully it’s time to get paid back. I think I have a lot to show and give for a TV fight. So I hope I get an opportunity against one of the big fighters and hey, I’d love to be in a fight.”

It seems like Lopez has always been in a fight. Boxing since the age of eight, he made his pro debut in 2003 on the Shane Mosley vs. Raul Marquez card at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and was expected to get run over by Allen Litzau, the brother of current contender Jason Litzau. Lopez needed just 53 seconds to dispatch his foe, beginning a career spent almost exclusively on the B side of the bout sheet. That’s the part of boxing they don’t fill you in on when you enter the pro ranks.

“Slowly you learn about the business side,” he chuckles. “Unfortunately for me, at the moment I don’t have a manager, so I’ve never really had the backing behind me, somebody who was going to be there for me as a fighter. So I’ve had to work my way up the tough way, the old fashioned way. I’ve always had to fight tough fighters and up and comers. My first fight, I was supposed to lose fighting against one of the American Boys (Litzau). I’d like to have somebody who would have my back and support me, that would be nice, but whether I have it or not, I’m still gonna fight my way through and fight my way up to the top.”

Fighting all around the west coast, Lopez dropped his third pro fight via decision to Rodrigo Lopez, then ran off a 14 fight winning streak where he won his first titles – the WBC Mundo Hispano, WBC Youth, and WBC Continental Americas belts. A disputed split decision loss to Floyd Mayweather protégé Wes Ferguson and a no contest against Sammy Ventura (both in 2006) slowed him down, but after six more wins he nabbed a ShoBox bout against hot New York prospect Edgar Santana in April of 2008. Lopez started strong and even dropped Santana twice in the eighth round, but a strong finish allowed Santana to escape with a controversial majority decision win. This loss really stung Lopez.

“That fight was a hard, tough loss for me,” he said. “I put in work and it was hard to deal with. I thought I won the fight, but obviously it wasn’t enough for the judges, and it set me back a lot. I had to deal with that, but once I coped with defeat and understood that the loss can only make me better, it changed my whole perspective on boxing.”

Lopez returned to the ring seven months later, but after running off a four fight winning streak, injury and a need for a break put him on the shelf for nearly a year.

“I took some time off and I had a small injury, but it was basically to get myself ready and get focused,” he said. “And ever since I came back, I haven’t taken a step back and I haven’t gotten out of the gym. I’ve managed to control my weight right and be ready at a moment’s notice.”

But when you take off and don’t have the backing of one of the sport’s power brokers, you can get forgotten. And when you’re forgotten, every fight back is like a championship fight that you’re expected to lose, as you watch heavily hyped prospects get all the shine, all the TV dates, and all the glory.

“It’s all part of the game,” said Lopez. “We’ve got other guys out there who are getting exposure, and in my opinion, they’re too much hype. I feel like I bring a fight to every fight. No matter what the result is, it’s gonna be a great TV fight, no matter what, and now it’s my time to shine. Whether somebody’s gonna push me and help me or not, I’m gonna have to work my way up. I’ve had to put in work the hard way, and I’m willing to do that.”

So despite his record, talent, and previous success, Lopez has found himself as the underdog against both Cordova and Dallas. He shrugs off the slights, knowing that he gets the final word on fight night.

“At the end of the day, it is an insult, but you know what, obviously I haven’t shown enough to whoever it may be. But it only makes me better. Whether I have to prove it to them or prove it to myself, I’m gonna do it.”

Hopefully with the win over Dallas, Lopez has proved what he’s needed to prove to take that next step in his career. But if he’s kept waiting, just know that each bump in the road makes him stronger, so when he finally does get his big fight, he’s going to be even tougher, meaner, and better. Josesito Lopez is old school, and if you don’t believe it, just fight him.