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Danny Lopez (boxer) facts for kids

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Danny Lopez
Statistics
Nickname(s) Little Red
Rated at Featherweight
Height 5 ft 7+1/2 in
Reach 71 in
Born (1952-07-06) July 6, 1952 (age 72)
Fort Duchesne, Utah, U.S.
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 48
Wins 42
Wins by KO 39
Losses 6

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". 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, 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, 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 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 Castañón 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. 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.

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
48 fights 42 wins 6 losses
By knockout 39 5
By decision 2 1
By disqualification 1 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
48 Loss 42–6 Jorge Rodriguez KO 2 (10), 0:37 Feb 27, 1992 Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S.
47 Loss 42–5 Salvador Sánchez TKO 14 (15), 1:42 Jun 21, 1980 Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. For WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
46 Loss 42–4 Salvador Sánchez TKO 13 (15), 0:51 Feb 2, 1980 Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. Lost WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
45 Win 42–3 Jose Caba TKO 3 (15), 1:41 Sep 25, 1979 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Retained WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
44 Win 41–3 Mike Ayala KO 15 (15), 1:09 Jun 17, 1979 Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Retained WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
43 Win 40–3 Roberto Castañón KO 2 (15), 3:02 Mar 10, 1979 Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. Retained WBC featherweight title;
Won vacant The Ring featherweight title
42 Win 39–3 Fel Clemente DQ 4 (15), 2:15 Oct 21, 1978 Palazzo Dello Sport, Pesaro, Italy Retained WBC featherweight title
41 Win 38–3 Juan Domingo Malvarez KO 2 (15), 0:45 Sep 15, 1978 Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. Retained WBC featherweight title
40 Win 37–3 Jose de Paula TKO 6 (15), 1:30 Apr 23, 1978 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Retained WBC featherweight title
39 Win 36–3 David Kotei TKO 6 (15), 1:18 Feb 15, 1978 Hilton Hotel, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. Retained WBC featherweight title
38 Win 35–3 José Torres RTD 7 (15), 3:00 Sep 13, 1977 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Retained WBC featherweight title
37 Win 34–3 Jorge Altamirano KO 6 (10) Aug 28, 1977 Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Stateline, Nevada, U.S.
36 Win 33–3 Jose Olivares KO 2 (10) Jul 29, 1977 Coliseum, San Diego, California, U.S.
35 Win 32–3 David Kotei UD 15 Nov 6, 1976 Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana Won WBC featherweight title
34 Win 31–3 Art Hafey TKO 7 (12), 0:56 Aug 6, 1976 Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
33 Win 30–3 Octavio Gomez KO 3 (10), 1:15 Apr 28, 1976 Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
32 Win 29–3 Sean O'Grady RTD 4 (10), 3:00 Feb 25, 1976 Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
31 Win 28–3 Rubén Olivares KO 7 (10), 1:59 Dec 4, 1975 Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
30 Win 27–3 Antonio Nava TKO 6 (10), 2:09 Sep 13, 1975 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
29 Win 26–3 Raul Cruz KO 6 (10), 0:30 Jul 26, 1975 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
28 Win 25–3 Chucho Castillo TKO 2 (10), 3:00 Apr 24, 1975 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
27 Loss 24–3 Octavio Gomez UD 10 Jan 18, 1975 Convention Center, Anaheim, California, U.S.
26 Loss 24–2 Shig Fukuyama RTD 8 (10), 3:00 Sep 19, 1974 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
25 Win 24–1 Masanao Toyoshima KO 3 (10), 2:59 Aug 8, 1974 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
24 Loss 23–1 Bobby Chacon TKO 9 (12), 0:48 May 24, 1974 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
23 Win 23–0 Memo Rodriguez TKO 10 (10) Feb 3, 1974 Gimnasio de Mexicali, Mexicali, Mexico
22 Win 22–0 Genzo Kurosawa UD 10 Jan 17, 1974 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
21 Win 21–0 Goyo Vargas KO 1 (10), 2:59 Sep 27, 1973 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
20 Win 20–0 Ushiwakamaru Harada RTD 2 (10), 3:00 Jul 31, 1973 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
19 Win 19–0 Juan Ordonez KO 4 (10), 1:44 Jun 21, 1973 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
18 Win 18–0 Cesar Ordonez RTD 6 (10), 3:00 May 10, 1973 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
17 Win 17–0 Kenji Endo TKO 2 (10), 1:26 Mar 17, 1973 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
16 Win 16–0 Jorge Carrasco KO 1 (10), 2:24 Feb 8, 1973 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
15 Win 15–0 Jorge Reyes KO 7 (10), 1:25 Oct 19, 1972 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
14 Win 14–0 Yoshinobu Goto RTD 8 (10), 3:00 Jul 27, 1972 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
13 Win 13–0 Benny Rodriguez KO 1 (10), 2:25 Jul 20, 1972 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
12 Win 12–0 Jose Luis Valdovinos TKO 4 (10) May 11, 1972 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
11 Win 11–0 Arturo Pineda KO 4 (10), 2:59 Mar 9, 1972 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
10 Win 10–0 Rafael Lopez KO 2 (10) Feb 18, 1972 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
9 Win 9–0 Jose Manuel Orantes KO 2 (10) Jan 20, 1972 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
8 Win 8–0 Margarito Rios KO 1 (6) Nov 18, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
7 Win 7–0 Frankie Granados KO 2 (6) Oct 14, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
6 Win 6–0 Rafael Lopez TKO 5 (8) Sep 16, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
5 Win 5–0 Modesto Ortiz KO 4 (6) Aug 12, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
4 Win 4–0 Jose Luis Estrada KO 3 (6), 0:35 Jul 29, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
3 Win 3–0 Mauro Olivares KO 1 (6) Jul 8, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
2 Win 2–0 Filiberto Castro KO 1 (6) Jun 17, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
1 Win 1–0 Steve Flajole KO 1 (6) May 27, 1971 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Professional debut

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.

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

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