Danny Lopez (born July 6, 1952) is an American former professional boxer who was the WBC
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...
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". In 2010, Lopez was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Background
Lopez describes himself as having Native American, Mexican, and
European-American heritage. He had been moved from one foster home to another, and coming off the
Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in
Fort Duchesne, Utah, he finally found a home in Southern California. He said that his father was a Mission Indian from Northern California, that his maternal grandmother was three-quarters Ute, and that his maternal grandfather was part Irish. 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
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
, where he beat Ushiwakamaru Harada by knockout in three.
On January 17, 1974, Genzo Kurosawa 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
Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...
, 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.
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
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
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
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
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 Castañón in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, 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
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
, Lopez defeated
Mike Ayala with a thrilling 15th-round knockout and retained his
WBC Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...
title for the seventh time; the exciting bout would be recognized by
Ring Magazine as its
Fight of the Year for 1979.
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
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
, 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.
Professional boxing record
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
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
full-time, then moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a construction worker. Today he lives in
Chino Hills, California.
Lopez acted in the 1989 film "
Fists of Steel".
Honors
*Inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame – 2005
*Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame – 2010
See also
*
Notable boxing families
*
Lineal championship
*
List of world featherweight boxing champions
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Danny
1952 births
Living people
American male boxers
Boxers from Utah
People from Uintah County, Utah
American boxers of Mexican descent
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
World featherweight boxing champions
World Boxing Council champions
The Ring (magazine) champions
American people of Irish descent
20th-century American sportsmen