Photo via Golden Boy Promotions
On the August 6 edition of LA Fight Club, Featherweight Abraham Lopez (18-0-1, 13 KOs) will headline a prospect-filled card in a 10-round fight against Jorge Diaz at the Belasco Theater in Downtown, Los Angeles, CA.
Lopez, 27, has had a lot of twists and turns in his seven-year boxing career, including a three-year layoff in which he became a certified respiratory therapist.
Despite the several changes in his career, one thing has remained: the partnership with his father, Rafael.
Lopez says that he was partly inspired to box by his brother, but it was his father, a former fighter, who taught him the basics.
After more than 20 years together, Lopez says he is still learning from his father, with whom he trains out of a home gym that had been steadily built into a personal boxing facility since he first started.
The father-son team led to his participation in the Mexican national team and in the Pan American qualifiers in Venezuela. Lopez had about 150 amateur fights, with many of those against international fighters, before turning professional in 2008.
After remaining undefeated in 19 professional fights, it’s safe to say that the father-son team has worked very well for Lopez.
“It’s worked. Don’t get me wrong—sometimes you get too comfortable and you start arguing,” said Lopez of their relationship.
“But as a man, you understand that your father has the best intentions for you and obviously he’s going to tell you when you’re wrong. So yeah, sometimes you don’t want to hear it, but once you cool down, you start to re-think things and notice that he’s correct,” said Lopez.
“My father is literally one of my best friends and I can tell him anything, so I feel comfortable,” said Lopez.
For much of his teenage life the team worked at boxing gyms in the East LA area, including Eddie Heredia Boxing Club. But the two found the drive inconvenient, and moved their training headquarters back to their home where it started.
The only thing missing, however, were sparring partners, and one can find Lopez at many different gyms in the Southern California area–including The Rock in Carson, Westside Boxing in Los Angeles and Wild Card in Hollywood–in search of sparring partners.
“I go out to other gyms to get sparring, and sometimes you run into other people you’ve been wanting to spar,” said Lopez, who has done rounds with notable fighters including Guillermo Rigondeaux and Oscar Valdez.
A Three-Year Layoff and a College Education
Lopez turned pro in 2008 and by 2012 earned 16 wins with 12 knockouts.
Unfortunately, after his win over Gabriel Tolmajyan in March of 2012, he was sidelined for three years due to issues with his manager and promoter.
Lopez was managed by Frank Espinoza and promoted by Thompson Boxing and Gary Shaw Productions.
During these three years, however, Lopez kept himself busy.
“I was always ready just in case I got a call. I always trained and I always watched my weight, which is why I’m still able to do 126 like nothing,” said Lopez.
Besides staying in shape, Lopez also pursued an education.
“I went to East LA College to be a respiratory therapist. It’s been a blessing to be able to do things that others might not know how to do, like saving a life,” said Lopez.
Despite not being able to fight, Lopez has seen the good in the layoff.
“My body got refreshed, my mind grew and I think that’s helped me a lot. It makes you grow as a person,” said Lopez.
After a Return in 2015, There Are Big Hopes for 2016
Lopez eventually returned in March of 2015 with his new promoter Golden Boy Promotions.
In his return, Lopez fought to a draw against Juan Carlos Martinez, but he might have just been shaking off some ring rust.
With a quick and intelligent style, Lopez has a boxing stance reminiscent of Mexico City’s Juan Manuel Marquez.
With his left hand held high before him, his right hand by an almost always tucked chin, Lopez likes to throw fast combinations before using his feet to look for more punching opportunities.
Another thing he’s really good at is dipping to his left side to unleash powerful hooks to the body.
It was a good left hook to the body, in fact, that Lopez used to knock out his last opponent, Alfred Tetteh, in the fifth round of their fight this past May.
Tetteh was looking to land a right hand, but Lopez, after a view rounds of measuring his opponent’s moves, timed the body shot before Tetteh could even land, leaving the Ghanaian Featherweight on the canvas writhing in pain.
Lopez is scheduled to fight tonight on Golden Boy Promotions’ LA Fight Club, but has his eyes set on a possible title shot in 2016.
“Depending on what Golden Boy has for me, I will always be ready and hopefully by next year,” said Lopez.
“I don’t care who it is. I’m here to fight and not here to play pat-a-cake and hide behind anybody. This is a contact sport–the best fight the best and that’s what I want,” said Lopez.
When asked about the three champions in his division–Vasyl Lomachenko, Gary Russell Jr. and Lee Selby–Lopez said he’d take any of them.
“They’re great champions and great fighters, but I don’t think much of it. But what makes them different from me? They have two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth—that makes them human, they’re not invincible,” said Lopez.
“If they’re training hard, then I can train hard—but I’m sure I’m training harder. If it was one of them, it doesn’t matter. I’d face all four of them at the same time. I don’t care. I love contact. It’s boxing—we’re not playing pat-a-cake,” said Lopez.
Lopez didn’t want to make too much out of his next fight, and dismissed it with the confidence of a fighter who is always in the gym and is always prepared.
Lopez says he’s always prepared and will make it a sparring session.
How he will do this Thursday and how he would do against the top-10 in the division remains a question, but at the very least it is one that he feels he is ready to answer.
Update: Lopez won his August 6 fight via ninth-round TKO. Read more about it here.
