By Mario Ortega Jr.-
The sport of boxing has been known for providing second chances. Troubled youth headed down the wrong path turns their angst and negative energy into something positive in the ring or a failed fighter can find a new lease on life as a trainer for a promising young talent, hoping their past mistakes can serve as a cautionary tale. Oakland, California’s Kris “Lightning” Lopez did not fulfill the promise he had as a fighter, but his third act in the sport has already proven more fruitful. The former promising amateur turned single fight pro is developing some exciting young talent out of his Lightning’s Boxing Club, most notably his own son David “Dynamite” Lopez, who goes for pro win number two this Sunday in Orlando, Florida on the Bally Sports Entrobox Championship Boxing undercard.
Boxing and fighting is rooted deep in the Lopez family bloodline. “It is very interesting that boxing is in our family,” explains Kris Lopez, whose great grandfather Elmario Santos was a fighter. “My grandmother used to always tell me stories about him jumping rope and chasing roosters. That was what he did. Come to find out we have a cousin [Nante Manangan] in Hawaii and he’s the face of boxing in Hawaii. Mike Tyson has been to his gym, Laila Ali. Boxing is definitely in our family, from my grandmother’s side to my uncle’s.”
Kris Lopez’ life in boxing began in what he refers to as bootleg backyard fights in his grandmother’s backyard. “So my uncle started my boxing career when I was young,” recalls Lopez. “I had like 80 backyard fights before my first amateur fight came about. I am not bragging about it. I was like a 15, 16-year-old kid and thought of myself like a Mike Tyson. I wanted to be like Mike Tyson. I looked up to him and studied him and kind of fought like him. We never wore headgear, and we might have had mouthpieces and gloves, but it would be whatever gloves were around. We would have these fights, and the toughest guys would hear about me and want to fight.”
The bootleg backyard fights would take place in a 10×10 or 8×8 foot box in Lopez’ grandmother’s backyard, where the young student of Mike Tyson fights would knock out two or three opponents in a single day at times. Lopez’ fighting career took a turn from the backyard into more organized amateur boxing after an encounter with his uncle.
“One day I was talking to my ex-wife on the phone and my grandmother was telling me something in Tagalog to get off the phone and I wasn’t being disrespectful, but I wasn’t listening,” recalls Lopez. “Next thing I know, my uncle Richard, who was known as the “Duke of Garfield,” and is a legend in our family as the bully, he punched me. He punches me and I turned around as a reaction and knock him out with a one-two. Before he hit the deck, he said, ‘Good shot Kris.’ And then he woke up, and this guy survived Vietnam, and he chased me. I’m being nice, but he said some shit that got under my skin, so I knocked him out again. Then, our relationship was kinda ruined by that and my cousins kind of looked at me different, but the brothers were all secretly happy because he tormented their lives. His own siblings were like, ‘You knocked him out boy?’ and they were proud. This is straight out of a movie. It’s crazy. He was 50-years-old, and I was 20…It was just his presence. I’m not bragging about knocking out my 50-year-old uncle, it was pretty much an accident. But when it happened, in my mind, I knocked out the “Duke.”
Six months after his confrontation with his uncle, Lopez navigated his way to winning the San Francisco Golden Gloves, a feat he would end up repeating the following year. Away from his grandmother’s backyard, Lopez found his way to one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most respected boxing gyms, King’s Boxing Gym in Oakland. “I was at King’s at its peak, at its height,” remembers Lopez. “I was there when James Page was there and Andre [Ward]. Back then it seemed like fights were more scarce, so guys would fight in the gyms.”
While still an amateur, Lopez was offered to provide sparring for Oscar De La Hoya, who at the time was well into his championship holding professional run. “They offered me to go spar De La Hoya after about my fifth fight,” remembers Lopez. “Honestly, I was scared, I am not going to lie. That dude had like 150 amateur fights and he’s on about his 34th pro fight and I am just getting started. I made up a good excuse. I said, ‘I am not going to fight him as an amateur, because I’ll kick his ass for four rounds, but then I will probably get tired and he will have his way with me. So, instead of sparring with him I am going to fight him for real one day, mark my words, and I am going to beat him.’ It would have been a great story if it had gone on to happen, but it didn’t happen. He went on to fulfill his legacy and I kind of faded into oblivion.”
Despite amassing a 10-0 record as an amateur, Lopez’ fighting career fizzled out before he could profit from his early promise. “Self discipline. I didn’t have the self discipline,” explains Lopez. “I got caught up in the allure of the streets and selling drugs in the streets. It got the better of me.”
Only years later, after a divorce and finding love and support from his second wife Denise, did Lopez come back to boxing and eventually get one professional fight under his belt, a disqualification defeat in Las Vegas, Nevada. “I found my wife and kinda got my act back together and salvaged what I had left with boxing, because it was all I really knew and we kind of gave it a shot,” explains Lopez. “I fought my best and I wasn’t the same as when I was 20, but I didn’t know that until I fought and I hit the guy and I couldn’t hurt him. The guy took the shots like a champ. It was kind of a messy, uneventful amateurish pro debut between two guys. It was really a lot of holding and hitting.”
With his in-ring career behind him, Lopez found his way as a trainer and eventually opened his own gym, Lightning’s Boxing Club in Oakland. Today, Lopez trains professional fighters such as veteran contender Aaron Coley and heavily hyped former international amateur standout Yoel Angeloni of Italy, who turned professional in June with a decision victory in Melbourne, Australia. However, what has undoubtedly brought him the most joy has been developing his own sons, Daniel and younger brother David as fighters.
“Daniel, my older son, he’s the one that beat Fernando Vargas,” says Lopez with pride. “He could punch, man. I wish he would have stuck with it. He’s making a comeback now. He’s lost 20 pounds, he’s 25. You know how the sport is. We will see what he has left and I am going to support him. Daniel was a two left-footer with power. He’s not as fast or as smooth [as his younger brother,] he’s more of a brute type of fighter, instead of more of a thinker. Now, we are trying to get him to become more of a thinker, so we will see.”
David Lopez, currently 1-0 as a professional, has been a closely followed wunderkind since the earliest stages of his amateur boxing career. Kris’ old King’s Gym mate Andre Ward took a special interest early on, even inviting David to carry his championship belt to the ring for fights. News cameras and television stations have loved interviewing David, a polished public speaker for such a young kid, from the very beginning. Under the tutelage of his father, David showed an advanced aptitude for the fight game early on.
“The guys that David beat [as an amateur] had like 125 fights and David only had like 10 and beat them,” remembers Kris. “So we weren’t too worried about David, because David is just the greatest kid fighter I have ever seen in my life. I think he could have beat Andre. He could have beat Roy Jones.”
David Lopez turned professional in October with a first-round knockout after becoming the youngest fighter signed to a contract by Mayweather Promotions, before even completing high school. Since his debut, lining up willing opponents that actually stick with the fight after signing a contract has been the biggest struggle for the young Lopez. Fights scheduled for February in Las Vegas and in May in Los Angeles fell out after fully completed training camps.
“I’ve learned there’s a lot of bumps in the road getting fights, but being introduced to the professional game, I’ve learned to always stay ready for whatever,” the media savvy David Lopez explained to Bay Area KRON4 news recently. “It is very stressful. I’ve gone through a lot of training camps and I put my body through a lot. It takes a toll to go through these long camps and then guys pull out. But me and my dad try to stay positive and keep positive mindsets.”
There have been some very successful father-son, trainer-fighter combos in boxing over the years. It would appear that the Lopez family could be another successful entry in that boxing tradition.
“It’s great having my dad with me,” says David Lopez. “I know that I am safe and that my dad has my best interests. I think it is really cool that I get to follow my dreams with my dad. He’s a part of it and he’s taking me to where I need to go through his knowledge from what he has experienced in his past. It is definitely dope that my father gets to be part of this and is my trainer of course.”
This Sunday night at the Caribe Royale Orlando, Kris Lopez guides his son David into the ring for his second professional bout. Through his son and the other aspiring young boxers that walk into his gym in Oakland seeking his expertise and guidance, Lopez has already achieved a level of success and accomplishment he may not have found as a fighter himself, but a second chance is one of the things boxing provides in abundance.
“I sought out to become a legitimate fighter,” says Kris “Lightning” Lopez. “I struggled with it a bit and I kind of blew my career. Here I am years later, trying to right my wrongs with my kids.”
Tickets for the event, promoted by Boxlab Promotions, American Dream Presents, Mayweather Promotions and GH3 Promotions and televised by Bally Sports Network, are available online at ticketmaster.com
Photos courtesy the Lopez family
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter @MarioG280
