BoxRec

How good was he and where does he rank amongst the great featherweights?

I've only seen his fights with Sanchez and Ayala(hoping to acquire more though) so I'd like some opinions.

banjo wrote:How good was he and where does he rank amongst the great featherweights?

Big puncher, very tough and determined; perhaps somewhat like a FW version of Felix Trinidad. Sometimes tended to get dropped early, but usually came back to win. His defense had a lot of holes, and that was always a liability with him.

I wouldn't put him on par with the great FWs like Pep, Saddler, Armstrong, etc., but I'd probably favor him the likes of McGuigan or Hamed.

My2Sense wrote:

banjo wrote:How good was he and where does he rank amongst the great featherweights?

Big puncher, very tough and determined; perhaps somewhat like a FW version of Felix Trinidad. Sometimes tended to get dropped early, but usually came back to win. His defense had a lot of holes, and that was always a liability with him.

I wouldn't put him on par with the great FWs like Pep, Saddler, Armstrong, etc., but I'd probably favor him the likes of McGuigan or Hamed.

That's a very good summation

Lopez was a cut above most of his time --- with one obvious exception --- & he'd have a reasonable standing as a top fifteen or twenty all-time Feather, IMO. An excellent fighter, maybe a hair short of elite-level greatness.

So he could definitely have had a much longer reign if he hadn't ran into Sanchez?

banjo wrote:So he could definitely have had a much longer reign if he hadn't ran into Sanchez?

Looking at the division during his time, I would have to think the answer is yes. His biggest threats would have been Pedroza & Nelson in the years to come, but it was a relatively strong Featherweight era, though not what I would call outstanding. The man's five-year win streak preceding his first meet with Sanchez (in which he beat some pretty damn handy fighters) speaks to a man at the top of the division. The comparison with Trinidad is not a bad one, & you could perhaps call Sanchez the De La Hoya or Hopkins to his Trinidad --- in Sanchez, he just met a man who could do most things better, & who possessed greater versatility than he, with those facts telling in their two fights.

Keep in mind, he retired at just twenty-eight, following those defeats to Sanchez. He really still could have had three or four good years in him at the top. That would have been long enough to set-up fights with Pedroza & Nelson. My feeling is Lopez probably comes up short in each of those (no shame in that), but we'll never know.

Yes, subtracting Sanchez from the equation most likely would have expanded Lopez's title tenure. "Little Red" was also, as you're coming to know, a very watchable fighter