Josesito Lopez Breaks Victor Ortiz, Lucas Matthysse Rolls
Photo by Esther Lin / SHOWTIME
by Gautham Nagesh
A scintillating Showtime boxing card saw junior welterweights Josesito Lopez and Lucas Matthysse turn in career-best performances on Saturday night from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Lopez moved up in weight to shock former welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz, breaking the Kansas native’s jaw with a left hook in the ninth round of a Fight of the Year candidate. Matthysse was almost as impressive, hurting Soto badly with a trio of right hands in the 5th en route to the first knockdown and stoppage loss of the Mexican’s career.[[MORE]]
Lopez fought the fight of his life against Ortiz, giving up significant size but showing superior craft on defense. He landed flush left hooks and right hands all night, but only his uppercut managed to budge Ortiz. Lopez sustained plenty of punishment in response, and for a while it seemed like he should be happy just to survive despite getting the worst of the exchanges. But the Californian is made of stronger stuff than Ortiz, and he responded to Victor’s worst by demanding more. The display of courage clearly shook Ortiz, who backed up soon after.
The ninth saw a replay of that scene, but this time Lopez landed a flush left hook with Victor’s mouth hanging open. When the bell rang soon after, none of us realized the extent of the damage. The news Ortiz had quit on his stool before the 10th was a shock, and fans quickly began booing. Twitter erupted with insults and references to Ortiz’ infamous capitulation against Marco Maidana. But it was clear soon after that Victor’s jaw was well and truly broken, justifying his decision to end the fight.
Yes, Muhammad Ali famously finished his first fight against Ken Norton with a broken jaw, as did middleweight Arthur Abraham in similar circumstances against Edison Miranda. Aside from the respect of the fans, neither have much to show for those displays of courage. Ali lost that fight, won a rematch, and held on far too long. His willingness to take punishment is largely responsible for his present condition. Abraham beat Miranda and defended his IBF strap nine more times, yet barely gets any respect after crashing out of the Super Six tournament.
Ortiz cannot be faulted for refusing to fight on with an unhinged jaw and a mouth full of blood. Like getting caught and put down with a perfect shot, sometimes an opponent is simply the better man on that night. Lopez fought like a man possessed, and Ortiz knew winning the last three rounds wouldn’t be easy. So he chose to stop and fight another day. In the process, he almost certainly lost his big money payday against Saul Alvarez. Unfortunate, but probably for the best. If Lopez, who normally fights at 140 lbs., can break Victor’s jaw, we’d hate to see what Canelo would do him.
Matthysse started a little more slowly and found himself getting out-boxed by the fast hands of Soto, who showed he still had something left in the tank after surviving several wars. But Lucas has some of the heaviest hands in the sport and both his losses are controversial. His early body work began to off in the 4th, and by the 5th he was positioned to land the heavy right hand that started the end for Soto. A second right hand sent Soto stumbling backward, where Lucas follower with a third right just before the bell. Soto sat down on the canvas for the first time in his career, and was only able to rise and stand with one hand on the ropes.
The ref gave Humberto the opportunity to return to his corner and rally, but the Mexican had nothing left. His corner wisely chose to end the fight, handing Matthysse his long-awaited major win on U.S. soil. Many believe Matthysse won against both Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, which means he belongs among the top names at 140 lbs. He deserves the winner of Amir Khan vs Danny Garcia, but Matthysse vs Brandon Rios could headline its own PPV card. Either way, we hope his next fight is on premium cable, where he belongs.