July 2025

MIRACLE MATTHEW BURNS LOPEZ IN LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT HELL By Randy Gordon Editor’s Note: The following is the original fight report for Matthew Saad Muhammad’s Ring Magazine/WBC light heavyweight championship triumph over Mexico’s Yaqui Lopez, which took place on July 13, 1980. The report appeared in the October 1980 issue of The Ring. • The Muhammad-Lopez bout would later be named The Ring Fight of the Year for 1980, beating out Roberto Duran’s all-time great points victory over Sugar Ray Leonard in their unforgettable 15-round welterweight epic, “The Brawl in Montreal.”

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