Adam Lopez looking to benefit from his performance against Oscar Valdez!
During the Friday weigh-ins ahead of his November 30 fight date, Adam “Blunose” Lopez (13-2, 6 KO’s) was presented with a last-minute opportunity to face the former WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez (27-0, 21 KO’s). The latter was initially scheduled to face Andres “Jaguarcito” Gutierrez (38-2-1, 25 KO’s) in a title eliminator for Miguel Berchelt’s WBC super featherweight title.
However, when Gutierrez jumped on the scale, he came in disgracefully 11-pounds overweight. As a result, he was removed from the card. Also, Top Rank big wig Bob Arum had team Gutierrez kicked out of the hotel they were staying in. In desperate need to find a suitable replacement, Lopez who already scheduled to feature on the under-card, was offered the shot. Following a brief period to think it over, Lopez accepted the challenge.
SOUR END TO A SWEET FIGHT
When a window of opportunity was granted, the son of former Olympic boxer Hector Lopez, had his own impending fight with Luis Coria (12-2, 7 KO’s) to consider. Yet, Lopez rationalized the fight with Valdez not only enjoyed a much higher profile but it was also a title eliminator. Despite having to unexpectedly jump up a weight class, Lopez felt the reward was well worth the risk.
Valdez was clearly the more experienced fighter with the much bigger name. Expectedly, many thought that he would make short work of his enthusiastic challenger. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Not only did Lopez box beautifully against Valdez, he scored a shocking second-round knockdown. For an intense few minutes, it appeared as if the unknown challenger would capture a life changing upset victory. In an interview with FightHype, Lopez disclosed the former champion’s praise of him.
“He [Oscar Valdez] told me, ‘you can punch man!’ He was like you’re a 126-pounder but you can punch. He was like your dad would be proud of you! You’re a warrior just like him.
“I told him, ‘you know my bloodline’. He gave me all the respect in the world.”
To his credit, Valdez showed his mettle by surviving the onslaught and eventually stopping Lopez in the seventh period. However, it should be noted that Valdez’s stoppage win was wildly controversial. It is true that Lopez was hit and hurt in the seventh. Nevertheless, the radical underdog was still receptive and defending himself well when referee Russell Mora oddly chose to halt the action.
“We went up in weight and jumped into the main event. I’ve never done that before, but I trust in my abilities, I trust in my coach and I took the risk. Maybe I lost the fight but like Buddy [McGirt] said, I won the war.”
NEW TAX BRACKET
Even in defeat, Lopez can hold his head high. Not only did he do far better than people expected, he illustrated that he is a top tier boxer that must be respected going forward. While he is open to fighting again at super featherweight, he is expected to drop back down to featherweight. However, the world has been put on notice that his boxing skills and punching power are the real deal.
Lopez is still open to face his original opponent Luis Coria. However, he flat-out said that the playing field has changed. While he does not intend for it to be a knock against Coria, he understands that he now has far more credibility on the world stage. Therefore, if a fight was to be renegotiated, his new status would have to be reflected in the reengineered contact.
“My stock went up! I’m ready for the big fights. I mean respect to Luis, you know he made weight he came, he was ready to fight. I saw it in his eyes, it was going to be a tough fight no matter what, but if they want it we can do it, it’s just got to make sense.”
By: Bakari Simpson
