In what was on paper a formality before a September 15th Pay Per View showdown with Saul Alvarez, Victor Ortiz was supposed to walk through late replacement and blown up Jr. Welterweight Josesito Lopez.
But one problem, Lopez did not receive the memo as the upstart from Riverside, California pulled off a shocking stoppage victory after round nine of their twelve round Welterweight bout at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Lopez, who fought through a shut right eye, took the bout on short notice after a failed drug test to Andre Berto.
The fight was a terrific back and forth brawl that saw many ebbs and flows and drama throughout the fight.
The action started early for which Lopez through wide and looping shots that crunched off the face of Ortiz. Ortiz landed some hard lefts and drove Lopez back to the ropes and even tried roughhouse tactics. In round five, Ortiz landed a hard left hand to the back of the head of Lopez that was an illegal blow and Lopez took several minutes to get himself together.
The action continued at a furious pace as both landed tremendous shots and the fight seemed to be close heading down the stretch.
Towards the end of round nine, Lopez landed a wide left hand that slammed off the side of the face of Ortiz. Ortiz sat in his stool and announced to referee Jack Reiss that he could not continue due to a possible broken jaw.
With those action, Ortiz loses a potential seven figure pay day with the WBC Super Welterweight champion Alvarez and Lopez great performance announces him as a player in the 140 & 147 pound divisions.
Lopez, 144 1/2 lbs of Riverside, CA is now 30-4 with eighteen knockouts. Ortiz, 146 1/2 lbs of Ventura, CA is now 29-4-2.
All Lucas Matthysse needed was one big right hand and he landed it just before the end of round five and he stopped former world champion Humberto Soto after round five of their scheduled ten round Jr. Welterweight bout.
It was Soto who boxed well over the first two rounds as he used some quick combinations. Matthysse started getting his power shots going, particularly to the body in round three. Soto rebounded to get back to boxing in round three. Matthysse started revving up the heavy artillery at the end of round as started landing power shots to the head and body. Matthysse landed a heavy right hand that sent Soto stumbling back to the ropes. Soto’s momentum off the ropes pushed him right into a huge right and dropped Soto for the first time in his career just seconds before the bell rang to signify the end of the round. When Soto got to his corner, the team waved off the fight at end of round five.
Matthysse of Argentina is now 31-2 with twenty nine knockouts. Soto of Los Mochis, MX is now 58-8-2.
Good looking Jr. Middleweight prospect Jermell Charlo scored an impressive fifth round stoppage over Denis Douglin in a scheduled ten round bout.
Charlo looked good over the first couple of rounds as he landed right hands by mixing them up between leads and working behind the hab. Douglin had a good round three as he found success working the body. That was short lived as Charlo got back to the right hand in round four and landed a booming right that sent Douglin flat on his back in round five. Douglin got to his feet but stumbled and referee Wayne Hedgepath stopped the bout at 1:12 of round round five.
Charlo, 153 3/4 lbs of Houston, TX is now 18-0 with nine knockouts. Douglin, 154 lbs of Marlboro, NJ is now 14-2.
Good looking Lightweight prospect Omar Figueroa made short work of Alain Hernandez by scoring a first rouns stoppage in a bout scheduled for eight rounds.
Figueroa jumped all over the smaller Hernandez and landed some hard shots. Figueroa then worked the body that pushed Hernandez back to the ropes. An ensuing flurry forced referee Jose Cobian to stop the bout just ninety-four seconds into the contest.
Figueroa, 137 lbs of Weslaco, TX is now 18-0-1 with fifteen knockouts. Hernandez, 137 lbs is now 18-11-1.