Ricardo "Finito" Lopez - Where Do You Rank Him?

[JK1700]

His victims include world champions Rosendo Alvarez, Rantapol Vorapin, Alex Sanchez, Hideyuki Ohashi, Will Grigsby, Zolani Petelo, Kyung-Yun-Lee, Kermin Guardia, Manny Melchor and Saman Sorjaturong. You might not have heard of these guys but they were the best fighters of his era and he destroyed all of them. Except for Alvarez who was a very good fighter also. And Ricardo was near the end of his career when he fought him.

I consider him to be at least in the Top 30 ATG's. What he achieved was pretty amazing. 21 defences of the WBC Minimumweight title and he also won the WBA and WBO titles at this weight. And won the IBF Light-Flyweight title and defended it twice before retiring. People might say his competition wasnt great but that wasnt his fault. All you can do is beat the best in your era and he certainly did that at 105. Perhaps he should have moved up to 108 earlier and took on Carbajal and Gonzalez but Lopez wanted to be considered the greatest ever in his weight class and he proved himself over and over again. I also think that it's a big feather in Lopez's cap that Saman Sorjaturong who he demolished in 2 rounds, went on to defeat the great Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez for the WBC/IBF 108lb titles and defended the WBC belt 10 times.

The reason I rank him so highly is because of his skills and longevity. He could box, punch, brawl or counter-punch and do it all brilliantly. Of all the fighter's iv'e seen I don't think ive seen a fighter as complete as Lopez. The reason he doesnt get much recognition is because he fought in thr 105lb division in the era of Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, Jones Jr, Hopkins, De La Hoya and Trinidad. But I think his reign puts him in the Top 30 of all time. Just imagine if somebody had made 21 defences of the Lightweight or Welterweight title and knocked out 16 people along the way.

Anyway, I want to know what people think. Where does he rank?

[Barn]

Ricardo Lopez.

I agree he was an excellent fighter who could rank anywhere between 21-29 on a list of mine. His feats in the ring were amazing there is no doubt about that, I just belive it's because of the weight class he is in he does not get enough notice.
I have a boxing encyclopedia and it states about the straweight class and other low weight classes.
"You have to be outstanding just to get noticed."

[SBleeder]

Top 10 of all time; I have him at #8 on my list. If we're going to truly talk about pound-for-pound then there are few fighters in history more skilled than Lopez. You can watch every fight of his ten times looking for a weakness- you won't find one. I don't take any points away from him for not moving up in weight. Many great fighters fought only in one weight class for their whole careers; Lopez did in fact move up at the end of his career. P4P he's up there with Robinson and Ali.

[ßringer]

He definitely belongs in the top 25 in my book.

In my eyes, he was the most technically skilled, fundamental fighter I've ever had the pleasure of watching during his reign.

Other guys like Robinson and Greb were way before I was even more.

Then guys like Whitaker were getting out of the game just when I started watching.

Lopez was the first dude I ever watched do his thing, as it happened. And I just knew even then that he was something special.

Otherworldly, almost.

[Obama]

Lopez wanting to be considered the greatest ever in his make-believe weight class was never a valid excuse for staying a Strawweight. The weight class had no history. Still doesn't. He didn't need to stick around to be called the greatest. How long did Evander Holyfield have to stay at CW to be called the greatest? Around 15 fights. Lopez could have done the same.

Furthermore the fact that Jimmy Wilde was technically smaller than him yet dominated the Flyweight division (which Lopez never visited) will always be a Black eye on Lopez's p4p rating.

[NChristo]

Lopez wanting to be considered the greatest ever in his make-believe weight class was never a valid excuse for staying a Strawweight. The weight class had no history. Still doesn't. He didn't need to stick around to be called the greatest. How long did Evander Holyfield have to stay at CW to be called the greatest? Around 15 fights. Lopez could have done the same.

Furthermore the fact that Jimmy Wilde was technically smaller than him yet dominated the Flyweight division (which Lopez never visited) will always be a Black eye on Lopez's p4p rating.

He did move up to Light Flyweight and took the towards near the end of his career, I agree though, should of moved up a lot earlier.



I'd have him top 30, remarkable boxer.

[SBleeder]

How many heavyweights fought at 205-210 and never moved down to fight at light-heavyweight/cruiserweight? Bouncing around weight classes is overrated.

Lopez is one of the most skilled fighters of all time, and all of you know that if he fought even as a featherweight that he would be on every top 10 list. He shouldn't be penalized for fighting at his natural weight.

[JK1700]

How many heavyweights fought at 205-210 and never moved down to fight at light-heavyweight/cruiserweight? Bouncing around weight classes is overrated.

Lopez is one of the most skilled fighters of all time, and all of you know that if he fought even as a featherweight that he would be on every top 10 list. He shouldn't be penalized for fighting at his natural weight.

I agree, everyone says he should have fought Gonzalez and Carbajal. He didnt but he was still regarded as better than both of them. When mentioning this people need to take into account that Saman Sorjaturong moved up and knocked out Gonzalez for the WBC/IBF belts and defended the WBC belt 10 times. This was just 2 years after he was demolished inside 2 rounds by Lopez.

I think Lopez is at least a Top 30 ATG.

[Obama]

Lopez sticking to a his natural weight class is not the problem. Problem is his weight class was a make believe POS with no history. Pretty sure if Strawweight was new when Jimmy Wilde was fighting, he wouldn't have bothered. Maybe for a couple reasons.

1) He'd probably kill anyone in the weight divison, litterally.

2) Much more recognition and respect to be gained by fighting Flyweights and Bantamweights (whom he dominated).

No reason why Lopez couldn't have done the same.

[crold1]

Lopez sticking to a his natural weight class is not the problem. Problem is his weight class was a make believe POS with no history. Pretty sure if Strawweight was new when Jimmy Wilde was fighting, he wouldn't have bothered. Maybe for a couple reasons.

1) He'd probably kill anyone in the weight divison, litterally.

2) Much more recognition and respect to be gained by fighting Flyweights and Bantamweights (whom he dominated).

No reason why Lopez couldn't have done the same.

The truth is somewhere in between. He's probably lower top 100 in all fairness. His opp was so-so at best and there were three titans (don't count Chiquita because they shared a trainer) JUST above him in Carbajal (who I've heard from a couple sources was willing). He had cache in Asia that could have seen a fight with Arbachakov and Mark Johnson would have fought (and beat him) in a heartbeat.

I can't take from Lopez for what he did accomplish but he's a little man du jour in some sense, closer in terms of opp quality to contemporary fighters like the larger Joe Calzaghe than really great, deeply tested little men like Genaro, Canto, LaBarba, and Perez. Carbajal's comp was much stronger and he took L's because of it but his best wins are better wins IMO. Lopez was criminally overlooked in his prime but has become mildly overrated in his retirement (as far as ATG's can be overrated).