WHO WILL JOSESITO LOPEZ FIGHT NEXT?

Catching Up with TEAM LOPEZ!

Josesito Lopez won the hearts of boxing fans around the world with his underdog victory against Victor Ortiz in the summer of 2012. After the Riverside upstart broke the jaw of Ortiz, he went on to face the large Canelo Alvarez in their September matchup.

While Lopez was defeated by superstar Canelo, he still remains the “People’s Champ,” the heralded “Riverside Rocky.”

Fans now await his next fight as the scrappy slugger always promises to fight toe to toe–never backing down. I recently caught up with Jose and his trainer, Henry Ramirez, to hear their thoughts about the next fight for the team. The plans are for Lopez to return to the ring around April.

The popular consensus is that Lopez will face British star Amir Khan. The Bolton boxer was impressive in his December defeat of Carlos Molina and word on the street is that Khan-Lopez could take place this spring. The Lopez camp says nothing’s official just yet but they are open to fighting Khan–or any champ, for that matter. And there are plans for Jose to go back down in weight. The former WBC Silver Welterweight Champ says he’ll take on anyone from 144-147 but he also has plans of going back down to 140.

There is also a long “To Do” list of fighters Lopez says he’d be interested in facing in various weight divisions. And some of the names (and his reaction to them) just might shock you!

Co-promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions (Ken Thompson and Alex Camponovo) and Goossen Tutor Promotions (Dan Goossen), Lopez worked his way up the ladder in boxing. At age 28, he waited patiently for his chance in the spotlight–and in 2012 he certainly made the most of it. During the holidays he worked out but hasn’t taken on sparring yet.

These days, his paychecks are a lot larger, his fan base has blown up and the wheels he drives are a lot spiffier, but Jose remains the down-to-earth guy that the fight fans identify with. Confident but not cocky, he still takes time to meet with fans and give back to the community. It’s this likability factor that helped propel Lopez into the mainstream market.

Fans relate to him and they want to root for him.

In Showtime’s “Upset of the Year” poll for 2012, the three top contenders were Lopez vs. Ortiz, Senchenko vs. Hatton and Trout vs. Cotto. Guess who won the viewer’s votes? Yep, the spirited SoCal pug. In fact, Lopez received a whopping 70% of the fan’s votes (Trout 26% and Senchenko 4%) for the war that broke Victor’s jaw in a stunning loss for Ortiz.

His fans are looking forward to his next fight and Josesito promises it will be soon. “Nothing ‘official’ to announce yet but if all goes well we’re hoping for a March or April 2013 fight,” he tells me. “Then I may go back to 140 and take over that division. I can make the weight and it’s definitely a good division. The top guys, the good fighters are in the 40-47 range. There would be a lot of action by the summer!”

And 2013 promises to be another memorable year for the Lopez family with the release of Jose’s father from prison and also the news that Ralph Lopez (Josesito’s younger brother) is also making his comeback in boxing.

During a recent chat with Jose, I threw out names to get his reaction on who he’d like to fight in the future.

He was open to everyone except one name he said would NOT want to fight–and one other boxer he “fast-tracked” to the top of the list–and his reasons may surprise you!

While there is the Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah bout on February 9 and Lamont Peterson vs. Kendall Holt clash on February 22, the sky’s the limit in the various weight divisions Jose says he can make. So I lobbed some names at him from “A to Z”:

AMIR KHAN?
LAMONT PETERSON?
ROBERT GUERRERO?
ANDRE BERTO?
DANNY GARCIA?
TIMMY BRADLEY?
MIKE ALVARADO?
BRANDON RIOS?
PAULIE MALIGNAGGI?
FLOYD MAYWEATHER?
MANNY PACQUIAO?
ZAB JUDAH?

Every time I threw out a random name, Jose nodded his head affirmatively and said he’d fight them in the future, anytime, any place stating: “ALL of them! I’d love to fight any of them.”

Except he quickly put the brakes on one name in particular.

KENDALL HOLT? The two were supposed to meet last year.

“Nah…” Lopez shakes his head, “NOT Kendall Holt…He lost his chance; he’d have to work his way up!”

VICTOR ORTIZ in a rematch?

“Oh, throw him up on top,” he says of his rival. “Before I move down to 140, I’d love to fight Victor Ortiz again!”

And I caught up with Jose’s trainer, Henry Ramirez, a couple of days ago to further confirm the team’s thoughts. I reminded him about the Holt controversy and also the possibility of a second go-round with Ortiz.

“You know what? We should send him a fruit basket,” he laughs about Kendall Holt’s backing out of their 2012 bout. “If it wasn’t for him, we never would’ve gotten the Ortiz fight and then the Canelo fight after that.”

Henry (known as “Mr. Electric” to his close compadres) is also “Mr. Tell-It-Like-It-Is.” The young coach (who many say is underrated in the boxing world) does not mince words or even attempt to sugar coat his opinions.

“Kendall Holt pulled out of that IBF elminator; we were upset,” he explains of how they ended up being the opponent for Victor Ortiz. “The Holt fight was in limbo because he didn’t want to fight outside at Soboba. They changed it to inside and he still didn’t want to fight. But then we got a call saying, ‘Berto’s out–are you interested in fighting Ortiz?'”

And just like that, Team Lopez’s world changed.

But as far as a rematch against “Vicious” Victor Ortiz, anything’s possible BUT it would be a collision that Ramirez is not exactly coveting.

“It doesn’t matter to me if we have a rematch; I don’t like Victor,” the 36-year-old trainer scoffs. “At this point, I don’t even care about Victor. He was dismissive about Jose in interviews saying that it was a ‘lucky punch’ Jose got him with. So FUCK Victor Ortiz!”

And before I can even ask him the next question, Ramirez counters with, “And YES, please print that–it’s on record! FUCK VICTOR ORTIZ.”

When I press him further about a rematch, Henry admits they would take it if it works out for all parties. After all, boxing is a business. But the Ortiz rematch is not one he is aiming for.

“I just think it’s disrespectful for him to say that about Jose,” he elaborates. “You know, WE lost to Canelo and we made NO excuses. Canelo was the better fighter.”

Fair is fair.

I’ve know both Henry and Jose for several years now and I can say the worldwide fame stemming from the Ortiz fight has not changed them at all. Ramirez remains “one of the guys,” a trainer who flies under the radar, working hard at the private II Feathers Gym while being a single dad to his pretty daughter, Miranda, age 15.

Besides training Josesito, he always works with heavyweight Chris Arreola, Thompson Boxing’s newest signee Joshua Conley, Ralphie Lopez (Jose’s brother) and several others. The busy boxing coach has a full schedule with a spate of fights coming up soon (with Arreola and Ralph Lopez possibly fighting in March).

But the one everyone is buzzing about is the Amir Khan vs. Josesito Lopez scrap.

I ask Henry for the latest on this.

“It would be great; Khan is a damn good fighter–a super talent,” assesses Ramirez. “Yes, right now word on the street is that we could be fighting him. But nothing’s negotiated yet.”

What catchweight would it be at?

“Right now anything’s possible,” is all the trainer can reveal for now. “But we’re not just waiting on the Khan fight…It could be him–or it could be someone else we face.”

Even a Victor Ortiz rematch?

Well, Josesito Lopez fans will just have to wait until an official announcement is made.

Photos by Michele Chong