Now that Jose Pedraza has tested positive for Covid-19 and the fight with him and Jose Ramirez has been rescheduled to Friday March 4th, Robert Garcia and his team of trainers can focus on Josesito Lopez’ bout versus Abel Ramos in Las Vegas on February 5th. Lopez is scheduled to fight on the undercard of Keith Thurman versus Mario Barrios on Fox PPV on a heavily stacked bout sheet that includes Luis “Panterita” Nery of Tijuana and fan favorite Leo SantaCruz of Los Angeles. The conflict of multiple bouts on the same date is a problem Garcia will face the remainder of his training career as long as he has a large stable of fighters. Currently his stable is made up of over 30 fighters ranging from Heavyweight to Mini Flyweights.
Back in January of 2019 Lopez was scheduled in a world title bout with Keith Thurman when some family plans for Garcia conflicted with the bout scheduled in New York. For almost the entire camp it was uncertain who from the team would be in Lopez corner. It wasn’t until at a family party on New Years that the family patriarch of the family, Don Eduardo Garcia decided for the team that he would help Lopez in the corner and that everyone would stay back for the family event, including his son,Robert Garcia and his grandson Robert "Pita" Gacia Jr. From the day of that decision all the way up to the day before the bout, Friday January 28th, that decision remained firm but behind the scenes Robert and his wife worked tirelessly to re-arrange dates for the family event. Finally on that Friday before the bout Robert asked his brother Mikey Garcia to reach out to the promoter, TGB Promotions, to look for a flight to New York so that he could support his father in Lopez corner.
Josesito Lopez turned pro in 2003 and had a total of 40 bouts before seeking a change of trainer in 2016. If you take time to study Lopez resume, it’s hard to find an opponent with an upside down record. One of his biggest wins of his career was in the summer of 2012 when he faced the very talented Southpaw Victor Ortiz. Lopez not only won the bout but broke Ortiz jaw in the process. The bout was stopped in the ninth round. That signature win led Lopez into a big fight versus then undefeated 40-0-1 Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Things didn't go as planned for Lopez and he was stopped in the fifth round of that fight in Las Vegas.
A few years later in 2016 after a tough loss to Andre Berto, Lopez reached out to Don Eduardo Garcia knowing the very experienced and successful trainer could help turn his boxing career around. The conversation went well but Don Eduardo told Lopez that the one with the final say in the decision is my son, Robert, who now runs the gym in Riverside, CA. That is how the transition occurred and how Lopez started training with Team RGBA (Robert Garcia Boxing Academy). Since then Lopez has had six bouts with his new team, five wins and only one loss, that one loss being against then undefeated Keith Thurman. His opponents have been, Todd Manuel, Saul Corral, undefeated Miguel Cruz, Keith Thurman, John Molina Jr., Francisco “Chia” Santana. His next fight will be against Abel Ramos. Ramos has a record of 27-4-2 and is coming off a very impressive stoppage over Omar Figueroa. Ramos only losses are to WBA Champion Yordenis Ugas, Jamal James, Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis.
The RGBA team has been quoted many times saying they believe Lopez was one punch away from knocking out Keith Thurman in the seventh round of their twelve round bout. Lopez last bout versus Francisco “Chia” Santana on the undercard of Errol Spence versus Danny Garcia was by far his best performance, in my opinion, since that illustrious seventh round versus Keith Thurman in New York.. For the entire ten rounds Lopez boxed well, letting his hands go with beautiful combinations but more importantly ending his flurry of punches with defense. Multiple times Lopez was seen pivoting out of the line of fire after he released his offense. It was such a beauty to see. I really can't wait to see Lopez versus Ramos on Fox PPV. With another signature win by Lopez he can easily put himself in contention with another big highly ranked welterweight. He is reaching almost twenty years in his boxing career and we would love to see him fight for a world title bout one last time.
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