Ricardo Lopez doesn’t get enough respect

[ShoulderRoll]

He should get respect. Beautiful boxing form which was ingrained in him by the best.

Trained by the great Mexican trainer "Cuyo" Hernandez. Then when Hernandez passed away he worked with Nacho Beristain.

[just the facts]

He had a close fight with Rungvisai and should have gotted the nod, and then another, Carlos Cuadras and Juan Fransisco Estrada, who defeated Rungvisai.

His resume is pale compared to the monsters that Roman Gonzalez defeated.

Again, he didn't beat Rungvisai. He fought a seriously dehydrated Estrada and still wasn't dominate. Who considers Cuadras a monster? And it still wasn't a dominate win.

[champion4ever]

I agree. He retired undefeated. It's almost like he had never existed because he fought at Strawweight. Which is the boxing minimum weight of a 105 lbs.

[JK1700]

Legendary fighter and one of my favourites to watch. Beautiful boxing style and was known for brutal knockouts as well. I have seen almost all his fights. Now would be a great time for some of you to watch some of his fights. Here’s some of the fights you should check out.

1. Hideyuki Ohashi - Very good fighter who won belts in 2 divisions. López completely dismantled him to win the belt.

2. Saman Sorjaturong - This guy was a monster and went on to beat Humberto “Chiquita” González and made 10 defences of that belt too. He was a very strong fighter and López starched him in 2 rounds. You should watch him vs Gonzalez too that was FOTY in 1995.

3. Ala Villamor - This is one of the most beautiful knockouts I’ve ever seen. Villamor was a dangerous contender who was 29-1 with 26 knockouts.

4. Rosendo Alvarez 1 and 2 - Alvarez was basically López’ “Manny Pacquiao” and the most dangerous opponent in his career. Alvarez beat another great undefeated champion similar to López (Chana Porpaoin look him up) and gave him 2 great fights. You have to watch both, amazing fights.

5. Zolani Petelo - This guy was the only top guy who López didn’t beat from 105 in his division and was another tall strong fighter. It was López last fight and a great performance from him.

I don’t know why some of you guys can’t appreciate the great fighters of the past and always want to hate on everyone. Just enjoy the fights and the skills these guys put on display for you. Like him or not this guy was a legendary fighter with a unique style and anyone who really knows boxing should be able to appreciate it. This is the guy who Juan Manuel Marquez learned from. Brilliant fighter.

[JK1700]

He did beat a lot of very good fighters. He actually has 10 world champions on his resume and two of them (Sorjaturong, Alvarez) are among the best fighters ever at 105 and 108lbs.

The problem he had is the guy to beat around that time was Chiquita Gonzalez, but they trained together so it was never going to happen. It’s interesting though that a guy he beat in 2 rounds ended up beating Gonzalez in the 1995 FOTY and ruling the 108lb division for over 4 years making 10 title defences.

Rosendo Alvarez is another great fighter he beat who beat lots of other top fighters and who’s only real loss apart from López was to Arce who was far bigger when he was 36 years old. This guy was a formidable opponent.

I’d have liked to see López-Carbajal that would’ve been a good fight but I would pick López. Resume aside just watch his fights he was a beautiful fighter to watch and had KO power in both hands.

[Caxcan]

He did beat a lot of very good fighters. He actually has 10 world champions on his resume and two of them (Sorjaturong, Alvarez) are among the best fighters ever at 105 and 108lbs.

The problem he had is the guy to beat around that time was Chiquita Gonzalez, but they trained together so it was never going to happen. It’s interesting though that a guy he beat in 2 rounds ended up beating Gonzalez in the 1995 FOTY and ruling the 108lb division for over 4 years making 10 title defences.

Rosendo Alvarez is another great fighter he beat who beat lots of other top fighters and who’s only real loss apart from López was to Arce who was far bigger when he was 36 years old. This guy was a formidable opponent.

I’d have liked to see López-Carbajal that would’ve been a good fight but I would pick López. Resume aside just watch his fights he was a beautiful fighter to watch and had KO power in both hands.

There were actually plans for Lopez and Carbajal to fight in '97 but it was upended after an upset loss:

"But Carbajal's unexpected loss to Pastrana forced Top Rank to scrap, at least temporarily, its plans for the big fight against Ricardo Lopez."

[JK1700]

There were actually plans for Lopez and Carbajal to fight in '97 but it was upended after an upset loss:

"But Carbajal's unexpected loss to Pastrana forced Top Rank to scrap, at least temporarily, its plans for the big fight against Ricardo Lopez."

Yep. He actually wasn’t the same guy after 94/95 to be honest. Which was around the time López was peaking. I say he loses because Chiquita outboxed him and he was more of a brawler than a boxer. Then after those fights he struggled against Melchor Cob Castro who was a very good fighter but basically a poor mans Finito López. I still think it would’ve been a good fight though. Carbajal was never out of any fight because of his power. Just look at his last fight with Arce. López was too smart and skilled for him though.

López-Gonzalez was the fight to make because that guy was a southpaw with serious KO power. Problem was those were Nacho’s two best guys and they were cool with each other and trained together. I’m happy he fought Rosendo Alvarez instead. That was the boogeyman in his division and at that point was a very dangerous opponent. He was less known but still a great fighter. He beat Chana Porpaoin (two time champ and 35-0 at the time) and went on to win titles at 108 too and should’ve got the win against Burgos in my opinion. Which would’ve made him a unified champ.

[Thraxox]

Again, he didn't beat Rungvisai. He fought a seriously dehydrated Estrada and still wasn't dominate. Who considers Cuadras a monster? And it still wasn't a dominate win.

Go watch a "seriously dehydrated" estrada and look at his body and performance vs Viloria and Gonzalez. He actually looked better against Gonzalez than Viloria.

It's just excuses. And Lopez's refusal to move up in weight despite having such size adds detriment to his legacy. Hell, he could have even fought a 19 year old Pacquiao back then had he moved up in weight and that would have been a career defining win.

[Caxcan]

Yep. He actually wasn’t the same guy after 94/95 to be honest. Which was around the time López was peaking. I say he loses because Chiquita outboxed him and he was more of a brawler than a boxer. Then after those fights he struggled against Melchor Cob Castro who was a very good fighter but basically a poor mans Finito López. I still think it would’ve been a good fight though. Carbajal was never out of any fight because of his power. Just look at his last fight with Arce. López was too smart and skilled for him though.

López-Gonzalez was the fight to make because that guy was a southpaw with serious KO power. Problem was those were Nacho’s two best guys and they were cool with each other and trained together. I’m happy he fought Rosendo Alvarez instead. That was the boogeyman in his division and at that point was a very dangerous opponent. He was less known but still a great fighter. He beat Chana Porpaoin (two time champ and 35-0 at the time) and went on to win titles at 108 too and should’ve got the win against Burgos in my opinion. Which would’ve made him a unified champ.

Yep, and props to Lopez for going through with that fight and defeating Alvarez after he missed weight by over 3lbs (Lopez from his end came in a pound and a half below the division)

[Caxcan]

Go watch a "seriously dehydrated" estrada and look at his body and performance vs Viloria and Gonzalez. He actually looked better against Gonzalez than Viloria.

It's just excuses. And Lopez's refusal to move up in weight despite having such size adds detriment to his legacy. Hell, he could have even fought a 19 year old Pacquiao back then had he moved up in weight and that would have been a career defining win.

That was the first and only time in Estrada's career that he came in at 108. He was never a flyweight, just a super flyweight that drained himself when he received a shot at Gonzalez's belt.

Lopez was lanky but he was not a "big" minimumweight. As I previously mentioned, he would sometimes weigh in way below the limit including late in his career. But he did in fact move up and claimed a belt immediately after unifications with Sanchez and Alvarez, and he had been willing to move up earlier against Carbajal. Not to mention he fought a top champ in Alvarez who was over a division heavier.

There's no reason why Pac would be a priority when he wasn't a popular fighter at the time and the two were 2 divisions apart with Pac holding the flyweight title for only 9 months before being knocked out then jumping up in weight.