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Danny Lopez (boxer)

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Danny Lopez
Born
Danny Lopez

(1952-07-06) July 6, 1952 (age 72)
Fort Duchesne, Utah, U.S.
Other namesLittle Red
Statistics
Weight(s)Featherweight
Height5 ft 8+1⁄2 in (174 cm)
Reach71 in (180 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights48
Wins42
Wins by KO39
Losses6

Danny Lopez (born July 6, 1952) is an American former professional boxer who was the WBC featherweight champion of the world from November 1976 to February 1980. His nickname was Little Red.

Known for his tremendous punching power, in 2003 The Ring magazine rated Lopez at number 26 on their list of "100 Greatest Punchers".[1] In 2010, Lopez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Background

Lopez is of Ute Indian, Mexican, and Irish heritage. He had been moved from one foster home to another, and coming off a Ute Indian Reservation in Utah, he finally found a home in Southern California.[2] He is also the brother of welterweight contender Ernie Lopez. He is married to Bonnie Lopez and has three sons, Bronson, Jeremy, and Dylan.

Pro career

Lopez began boxing professionally on May 27, 1971, knocking out Steve Flajole in one round at Los Angeles. He won his first 21 fights in a row by knockout, in one of the longest knockout win streaks ever. During that streak, all but one of his fights were in Los Angeles, a fact which could be credited for his popularity in the area. The only one of those 21 fights to be held outside Los Angeles took place in Honolulu, where he beat Ushiwakamaru Harada by knockout in three.

On January 17, 1974, Genzo Kurosaw became the first person to go the distance with Lopez, Lopez winning by a ten-round decision. His next fight, a month later, in Mexicali, Mexico, was his first fight abroad. He beat Memo Rodriguez by a knockout in nine rounds.

People in Los Angeles were eager to see Lopez and another up-and-coming Los Angeleno, Bobby Chacon, square off inside a ring. The fight took place on May 24, and Lopez was knocked out in the ninth round in a thrilling fight. In his next fight of note, he lost once again by a knockout in round nine, this time to Shig Furuyama.[3]

After losing to Octavio Gómez to begin 1975, Lopez went on a roll, beginning with a knockout of Chucho Castillo in two rounds. Two more wins, and he was faced with Rubén Olivares, whom he beat by a knockout in seven rounds, after recovering from a first round knockdown himself.

In 1976, he beat Sean O'Grady by knockout in four, Gómez by knockout in three and Art Hafey by knockout in seven. Finally ranked number one by the WBC, he travelled to Ghana to challenge world Featherweight champion David Kotei in front of an estimated crowd of more than 100,000 Kotei partisans. Lopez became world champion by outpointing Kotei over 15 rounds on November 6. Due to all communication systems having been cut down in Ghana, Lopez could not get his message through to his family; they only learned he was World Champion when they picked him up at the airport one week later.

Lopez won three fights in 1977, retaining the title once, against José Torres by a knockout in round seven.

He and Kotei had a rematch on February 15 of 1978, as part of the undercard where Leon Spinks dethroned Muhammad Ali of the world Heavyweight title. Lopez knocked Kotei out in round six of their rematch, and then he retained the title against Jose DePaula by knockout in round six, and Juan Malvares (on the undercard where Ali regained the title from Spinks) by knockout in two, after recovering from a first round knockdown himself. On October 21, he had a fight with Fel Clemente, against whom he retained the world title with a four-round disqualification in Italy.

By the end of 1978, there was much talk of a "super-fight" against world Jr. Featherweight champion Wilfredo Gómez, but the bout never materialized.

His fight on March 10 of 1979 against Spain's Roberto Castanon in Salt Lake City, not only marked the first time he defended his world title in his home-state, but the first time he fought in his home-state as a professional period. He retained the crown with a two-round knockout. On June 17, 1979, at San Antonio, Lopez defeated Mike Ayala with a thrilling 15th-round knockout and retained his WBC Featherweight title for the seventh time; the exciting bout would be recognized by Ring Magazine as its Fight of the Year for 1979.[4][circular reference] Lopez went on to defend the title once more that year, knocking out Jose Caba in three rounds.

Lopez's reign as world champion came to an end on February 2, 1980, at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. He met Salvador Sánchez that day, and he lost by knockout in round 13 in a one-sided affair. A rematch was fought on June 21, in Las Vegas, and that time around, Lopez was knocked out in the 14th round. He announced his retirement after that fight.

In 1985, he talked about a comeback, but decided to delay until 1992, when he was 40 years old. He lost that bout via TKO.

His record was 42 wins and 6 losses, with 39 wins by knockout.

In June 2010, Lopez and 12 other boxing personalities were inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.[5]

Life After Boxing

After his final bout, Lopez was the object of various dedications and was active on the autograph signing circuit. He returned to live in Utah full-time, then moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a construction worker. Today he lives in Chino Hills, California.

Partial professional boxing record

42 Wins (39 Knockouts), 6 Defeats (5 Knockouts), 0 Draws[6]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Loss 42–6 United States Jorge Rodriguez KO 2 (10), 0:37 1992-02-27 United States Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California
Loss 42–5 Mexico Salvador Sánchez TKO 14 (15), 1:42 1980-06-21 United States Caesars Palace, Las Vegas For WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
Loss 42–4 Mexico Salvador Sánchez TKO 13 (15), 0:51 1980-02-02 United States Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona Lost WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
Win 42–3 Dominican Republic Jose Caba TKO 3 (15), 1:41 1979-09-25 United States Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles Retained WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
Win 41–3 United States Mike Ayala KO 15 (15), 1:09 1979-06-17 United States San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio Retained WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
Win 40–3 Spain Roberto Castañón KO 2 (15) 1979-03-10 United States Salt Palace, Salt Lake City Retained WBC featherweight title;
Won vacant The Ring featherweight title
Win 39–3 Philippines Fel Clemente DQ 4 (15), 2:15 1978-10-21 Italy Palazzo Dello Sport, Pesaro, Marche Retained WBC featherweight title
Win 38–3 Argentina Juan Malvarez KO 2 (15), 0:45 1978-09-15 United States Superdome, New Orleans Retained WBC featherweight title
Win 37–3 Brazil Jose De Paula TKO 6 (15), 1:30 1978-04-23 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles Retained WBC featherweight title
Win 36–3 Ghana David Kotey TKO 6 (15), 1:18 1978-02-15 United States Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas Retained WBC featherweight title
Win 35–3 Mexico José Torres RTD 7 (15) 1977-09-13 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles Retained WBC featherweight title
Win 34–3 Mexico Jorge Altamirano KO 6 (10) 1977-08-28 United States Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Stateline, Nevada
Win 33–3 United States Jose Olivares KO 2 (10), 1:22 1977-07-29 United States San Diego Coliseum, San Diego
Win 32–3 Ghana David Kotey UD 15 1976-11-06 Ghana Accra Sports Stadium, Accra Won WBC featherweight title
Win 31–3 Canada Art Hafey TKO 7 (10), 0:56 1976-08-06 United States Inglewood Forum, Inglewood, California
Win 30–3 Mexico Octavio Gomez KO 3 (10), 1:15 1976-04-28 United States Inglewood Forum, Inglewood, California
Win 29–3 United States Sean O'Grady RTD 4 (10) 1976-02-25 United States Inglewood Forum, Inglewood, California
Win 28–3 Mexico Rubén Olivares KO 7 (10), 1:59 1975-12-04 United States Inglewood Forum, Inglewood, California
Win 27–3 Mexico Antonio Nava KO 6 (10), 2:09 1975-09-13 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
Win 26–3 Mexico Raul Cruz KO 6 (10), 0:30 1975-07-26 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
Win 25–3 Mexico Chucho Castillo TKO 2 (10), 3:00 1975-04-24 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
Loss 24–3 Mexico Octavio Gomez UD 10 1975-01-18 United States Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California
Loss 24–2 Japan Shig Fukuyama RTD 8 (10) 1974-09-19 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
Win 24–1 Japan Masanao Toyoshima KO 3 (10), 2:59 1974-08-08 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
Loss 23–1 United States Bobby Chacon TKO 9 (12), 0:48 1974-05-24 United States Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles
Win 23–0 Mexico Memo Rodriguez TKO 10 (10) 1974-02-04 Mexico Mexicali, Baja California
Win 22–0 Japan Genzo Kurosawa UD 10 1974-01-17 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
Win 21–0 Mexico Goyo Vargas KO 1 (10), 2:59 1973-09-27 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles
Win 20–0 Japan Ushiwakamaru Harada TKO 3 (10) 1973-07-31 United States Honolulu, Hawaii

Honors

  • Inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame – 2005
  • Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame – 2010
Achievements
Preceded by WBC Featherweight Champion
6 Nov 1976– 2 Feb 1980 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Alexis Arguello 		Lineal Featherweight Champion
10 Mar 1979– 2 Feb 1980 		Succeeded by

See also

References

  1. ^ Eisele, Andrew (2003). "Ring Magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers". About.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  2. ^ Bobby Chacon and Danny "Little Red" Lopez Archived December 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Danny Lopez vs. Shig Fukuyama - BoxRec".
  4. ^ "The Ring magazine Fight of the Year".
  5. ^ Boxers "Little Red" Lopez and Chang Elected to Int'l Boxing Hall of Fame - IBHOF.com Archived 2009-12-13 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Danny Lopez's Professional Boxing Record. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2012-01-17.
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