On Saturday night, ‘The Riverside Rocky’ Josesito Lopez will go into the boxing ring in Brooklyn, New York against WBA welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman as a live underdog.
The question is can Josesito be the first one to defeat the undefeated champion Keith Thurman?
My answer to that is……YES, he can.
I am not saying he will but he can do it.
Josesito has the skills and heart to pull off an upset, and the circumstances surrounding this fight give him a great opportunity to do it. He pulled off an upset before with a win over Victor Ortiz back in 2012 and broke his jaw.
Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) has been inactive since his fight with Danny Garcia in 2017, he had an elbow injury that required surgery and put him out of the ring for nearly two years.
With the time off it can either make or break a fighter. The time away from the ring can help a boxer recover and recuperate physically, or it can make them rusty. It also depends on what type of lifestyle Thurman was living, was he just enjoying his life hanging around doing nothing, or was he jogging every morning to maintain his cardio.
Thurman also changed as a fighter he got married and gone soft. Before his motto was, “I got an O, I’m not afraid to let it go,” now he fights like a guy scared to lose instead of the one who wanted knockouts for life.
Lopez (36-7, 19 KOs) has a big chance to capitalize on this and become a world champion for the first time in his career.
He has to really push the pace on Thurman. Lopez has to make it an ugly fight and get close to punish the body, he has to slow Thurman down so he doesn’t run around the ring and try to pot shot to a decision.
Make it an ugly fight like Shawn Porter did and go for broke because you have nothing to lose. When a guy has been away from the ring this long you have to fight them at a faster pace to test their conditioning.
Thurman is the legit WBA champion at welterweight, Manny Pacquiao only holds the regular title which is like the interim belt. Thurman has the super title making him the top dog.
If Lopez defeats the man, he becomes the man. An upset on FOX would be a real life Cinderella Man moment.
I’m rooting for the ‘Riverside Rocky’ and I hope he gives his all in the fight because this could be his last chance at gold.
Big time boxing fan. Grew up in East Los, and been an avid follower of the sport and the legends like Julio Cesar Chavez, Vicente Saldivar, Salvador Sanchez, Carlos Zarate, Erik Morales, Ricardo Lopez and Juan Manuel Marquez just to name a few.
Current favorite boxers: Canelo Alvarez, Mikey Garcia.