Josesito Lopez demonstrated again on Saturday that he’s a viable opponent for any an elite welterweight.
Lopez gave tough, but overmatched Francisco Santana a beating before the fight was finally stopped in the 10th and final round on the Errol Spence Jr.-Danny Garcia card at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Lopez (38-8, 21 KOs) forced Santana (25-9-1, 12 KOs) to the canvas with a body shot in the first round and never stopped dishing out punishment until referee Neal Young finally waved off the fight.
Santana, 34, is only 3-6 in his last nine fights but had been stopped only once, 11 years ago. And he was tough in this one, enduring the punishment and fighting back for most of nine-plus rounds.
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He went down a second time with about 30 seconds remaining in Round 9, the result of a right to the head. He got up and survived the round but wobbled back to this corner. The fight could’ve – should’ve? – but stopped at that point but it went on.
In the 10th, he took a knee again after taking a left to the face, somehow got up, then went down one final time under the weight of a flurry of shots. At that point, Young had seen enough and stopped the fight.
The official time was 1:22 of the round.
Lopez, 36, has looked particularly sharp since 2018 when he easily outpointed then-unbeaten Miguel Cruz. He then gave Keith Thurman all he could handle in a competitive loss. And, in his most-recent fight, he stopped John Molina Jr. in eight rounds more than a year ago.
He’s a potential opponent for any top 147-pounder looking for a legitimate challenge.