Back in 1997-98, De la Hoya went on record saying of all the 147'ers at the time, Trinidad, Quartey, Lopez....the latter would be the toughest fight (probably was right as well). Lopez had one-shot power and an adamantium chin....but was a pot-head/Alchy. De La Hoya had serviceable power, decent chin and great skillz....and was an Alchy. Who wins? Golden Boy or El Maestrito...
Why? Break it down...don't just come up with randomness...De La Hoya avoided this guy like the plague...
Lopez is overrated. Had talent but no heart/fire. Oscar would have either stopped him late or won an easy UD (And I'm no De La Hoya fan).
Oscar would have jabbed the hell out of Lopez and had the chin to take the few big shots from JLL that might get through. De La Hoya wins at worst 8-4.
Not much to break down. Oscar's chin was too good for Lopez to win by KO. Lopez sure as HELL wouldn't outbox Oscar. And his workrate was too low to outwork Oscar. So what outcome does that leave? DLH by decision.
Lopez was missing something. He just didn't have the intangibles to be a great fighter. Boxing is 90% mental. And the guy just wasn't a fighter at heart. He was a talented athlete for sure. But he wasn't born to be a fighter.
I don't care to do any training but I am ready to think really hard. How far do you guys think I can go as a fighter?
There are guys who weren't the most naturally talented who went far because they were just fighters at heart. Lopez just wasn't one of those guys. I don't really think he LOVED boxing. I just think he was decent enough at it to where somebody was able to push him far enough to get enough out of his talent where he could be somewhat in the mix of a talented welterweight division in the 90s. But his fight with Quartey showed us all that he didn't have the heart to make it to the very top of the game. He had Quartey down and basically out and hardly put forth the effort to finish him off. He had a great chin, that's for sure. But there are certain x-factors that make a guy a fighter and Lopez didn't have them.
i think only reason odh said lopez was biggest threat was to endear himself to mexicans. also, at one point he may have been considering ducking tito and quartey and just taking on lopez.
That's not true. He was trying his darnest to finish Quartey. He threw a lot of punches after the KD. HE simply lacked the skills to land another bomb
