Josesito Lopez lived up to his ‘Riverside Rocky’ nickname on Saturday night when he gave undefeated WBA welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman a brutal fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Nobody expected a huge underdog like Lopez to win or even last the full twelve rounds against Thurman but he proved the doubters wrong when he survived an early knockdown and refused to lay down.
The tables turned when Lopez came back and kept pressing the action and stunning Thurman on the ropes in the seventh round. That round should have been scored at least 10-8 in favor of Lopez.
Thurman was so badly hurt he was running away like he was Usain Bolt. He put his track shoes on to try to survive and he was lucky enough because if one more power shot landed he would have been out.
Thurman looked to be in tip-top condition so people can’t use the 22-month layoff as an excuse. His body was fresh and well rested so he came in shape for sure.
Josesito under the guidance of Robert Garcia came to the fight to win and he should have been given the decision or at least a DRAW. I even predicted that Lopez can pull of an upset.
Only one judge scored it a Draw and the other two had it wide in Keith Thurman’s favor. So Josesito knew the only way he could win was by knockout and he tried his hardest to catch a fast running Thurman but he just couldn’t keep up with the road runner style boxer.
I really felt bad for Lopez because he put his all into this fight and again failed to come up with a championship belt.
He fought in front of a nationwide audience on FOX and put his heart and soul only to get robbed of his dream to become a world champion.
I hope he gets another chance at a world title because he proved tonight that he can hang with the best of them with the heart of a true Mexican warrior he never took a backwards step.
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.