Technical Decision Win at Fantasy Springs
Southern California’s Josesito Lopez got an all-important “W” and back in the win column after his welterweight bout versus East Coast challenger “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis. Their clash was the main event on the “Golden Boy Live!” card taking place Friday, December 13 at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif.
Their welterweight scrap was scheduled for 10 rounds–and in this go-round, the local favorite Lopez (known as the “Riverside Rocky”) was not the usual underdog in the fight. After gaining fame from breaking the jaw of Victor Ortiz in an upset victory, Lopez (co-promoted by Thompson Boxing and Goossen Tutor) squared off against the larger-framed and heavy fists of Canelo Alvarez in September 2012. Then in June of this year, Jose laced up against the Argentinean keg of dynamite known as Marcos “El Chino” Maidana , who toppled Adrien Broner on Saturday night in a stunning upset. Both bouts ended in TKO defeats for Lopez so he really needed a convincing victory on Friday night. The card was aired live on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes and was presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Goossen Tutor Promotions, Thompson Boxing Promotions and Star Boxing.
In this showdown, Josesito’s large fan base wanted to see their hero claim an exciting victory at this desert rumble. Wearing their “Making Doubters Into Believers” Team Lopez shirts, his fans came en masse hoping to see Josesito in what they hoped would be a dominating performance over the 34-year-old veteran southpaw Arnaoutis. On paper, the popular consensus was that Lopez (31-6, 18 KOs) would beat Arnaoutis (24-10-2, 11 KOs), who had won just three out of his last ten fights.
But Team Lopez didn’t look past this opponent. At the media workout earlier in the month, Jose’s trainer Henry Ramirez had told me, “Mike is a really durable guy, a solid fighter, so this could be 10 hard rounds.”
It turned out to be eight rounds of battle in a hard-fought win.
The fans were clamoring for a knockout or a sizzling, solid victory from the “Riverside Rocky,” the known underdog in his last three fights on the big stage. But his Greek challenger proved to be a tough foe and was no walkover for Lopez. As Josesito tried to figure out the lefty’s style, it thwarted him from finding his rhythm early on. Unable to switch gears, the crowd favorite heard chants of “Let’s Go, Rocky!” during the rounds. At the end of the third frame, Arnaoutis connected with a shot that scored a knockdown against Lopez, surprising the crowd in a stunned silence.
The next rounds were more tense as the audience anticipated and wondered if an Arnaoutis upset was in the making on this Friday the 13th?
Arnaoutis found success with body shots and some counter punching while Lopez’s jabs and combinations found a home. Round 8 was a wild one with Jose knocking his ring rival through the ropes and throwing everything but the kitchen sink in the hopes of cementing an early stoppage. Arnaoutis, ever the cagey veteran, reminded me of the “Energizer Bunny” constantly bouncing back and not giving in to the assault inflicted by the 29-year-old Lopez. An accidental head butt in the flurry caused a gash on the left eye of Arnaoutis. The crimson flow of blood caused the doctor to take a good look at it saying the fighter was unable to continue with the decision going to the scorecards.
Judges Fritz Werner and Max De Luca had it 77-74 and Tom Taylor scored it 76-75 all in favor of Lopez.
I caught up with Jose after his win, which he admitted was not his best performance against a rugged, hard-nosed vet in “Mighty” Mike.
“I’m not entirely happy with my performance,” Lopez told me, “BUT I am happy to be back in the ring.”
Was he hurt after the knockdown?
“No, I wasn’t,” he quickly answered. “It was more that he caught me off balance.”
And there was no animosity between the two after their feud. “He was a tough guy. I saw Mike in the hotel after our fight,” Lopez mentioned, “and we took a photo together!”
Jose also wanted to give a shout out to his legions of supporters who came from near and far. “I really love my fans,” the down-to-earth boxer nodded. “I had trained in Arizona and it was great seeing so many fans come out to see the fight. I want to thank everyone for coming out–and everybody from L.A. too who made the drive out too.”
Lopez’s home base is “Indian” Willie Schunke’s II Feathers Gym in Riverside, but his trainer Henry Ramirez recently took his fighters Lopez, Chris Arreola and Jonathan Arellano to training camp at the Central Boxing Gym in Phoenix before Arreola’s September knockout of Seth Mitchell. Jose said he was blown away by all the fan support from Arizona and after his bout against Arnaoutis, the welterweight spent a lot of time meeting his fans and posing for photos at Fantasy Springs. He never says no to anyone and he has watched his fan base grow with each and every match.
And his followers are already asking when his next fight will be?
While his camp will seek bigger and better fights in the new year, Jose did express his desire to stay busy and stay relevant in the fight game. “It’s really good to be back in the ring,” he added during our chat. “I wanna stay busy in 2014 and fight three or four times.”
His co-promoter Ken Thompson (Thompson Boxing Promotions) says Lopez should have another fight lined up within 90 days.
Lopez will remain in the 147 weight class, which is packed with plenty of intriguing matchups in the division.
With a win against Mike Arnaoutis, boxing’s favorite underdog remains in contention to fight the top dogs in the rankings.
Photo by Michele Chong
Lopez lost that fight, or should have given his lackluster performance. Its a bummer because I’m a fan of Lopez. I don’t see him ever making the stage like he did after beating Ortiz.
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