| Danny Lopez |
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| 1952 births | |
| lopez, danny | |
| living people | |
| american boxers | |
| featherweights | |
| world boxing champions | |
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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 his fights among those 21 fights outside Los Angeles took place in Honolulu , where he beat Ushiwakamaru Harada by a knockout in three. On January 17 , 1974 , Genzo Kurosaw 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 there. People in Los Angeles were eager to see Lopez and another up-and-coming ''Angelino'', Bobby Chacon , square off inside a ring. The fight took place on May 24 , and Lopez suffered his first professional loss, by a knockout in round nine. After one more win, he lost once again by a knockout in round nine, this time to Shig Furuyama . After losing to by a knockout in two rounds. Two more wins, and he was faced with Ruben Olivares , whom he beat by a knockout in seven rounds. In to announce the good news, but all communication systems had been cut down in Ghana. Lopez then tried to send them a telegram through the American embassy in Accra , but they too were affected by the system failure and could not get his message through. Lopez's family was finally able to realize that Danny was a world champion when they picked him up at the airport one week later. Lopez won three fights in 1977 , retaining the title once, against Jose Torres by a knockout in round seven. He and Kotey 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 Kotey 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. 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 Gomez , but the bout never materialized. His fight on . Nevertheless, this did not affect the fight's result, but left many to speculate about how the fight would have ended had Ayala not been drugged during it. Ayala himself admitted to have been, in his own words, ''loaded'' on the day of the fight. 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 Coliseum '' in Phoenix . He met Salvador Sanchez that day, and he lost by knockout in round 13. A rematch was fought on June 21 , in Las Vegas , and that time around, Lopez managed to last until the 14th round before succumbing once again by knockout. He announced his retirement after that fight. In 1985 , he talked about a comeback, but decided not to do it. However, in 1991 , he did a one fight comeback, losing to Jorge Rodriguez by a knockout in round three. Lopez has remained active during his latest retirement in the social sphere: He has been the object of various dedications and been active on the Autograph signing circuit. He returned to live in Utah full-time after stepping away from the boxing rings for the last time. His record was of 42 wins and 6 losses, with 39 wins by knockout. |
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