FIGHTLINE BY DOUG FISCHER
F
ights only last a matter of minutes, but fighters are connected to each other by chains that extend for
decades – even centuries – into the past. Their bond is a lineage built face- to-face: A young prospect struggles with the skills of an aging veteran whose nose was once broken by a fighter now enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In that way, muscle memory carries knowledge and boxers face a piece of everyone their opponent has fought, everyone those people fought, and so on. This month we’re linking two all-action light heavyweights of Mexican descent – Alvaro “Yaqui” Lopez and David Benavidez. Lopez, a perennial contender during the 175-pound division’s golden age of the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, but grew up in Stockton, California. The two-fisted slugger came up short in four courageous bids for versions of the light heavyweight title – hotly contested 15-round decision losses to John Conteh and Victor Galindez (twice) and an epic 14th-round stoppage to Matthew Saad Muhammad in The Ring’s 1980 Fight of the Year. Lopez, who finished his career with a 61-15 (39 KOs) record, fought a Who’s Who of ’70s/’80s light heavyweight standouts, including Michael Spinks, Saad Muhammad (twice), Galindez, Conteh, Mike Rossman, James Scott, Jesse Burnett (four times), Mike Quarry, Andy Kendall and Lonnie Bennett. He was never in a bad fight. Born to a Mexican father and Ecuadorian mother in Phoenix, Arizona, Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) burst onto the world-class scene as the youngest super middleweight titleholder ever (at age 20). He climbed to the top of the 168-pound rankings with victories over Anthony Dirrell (KO 9), Caleb Plant (UD 12) and Demetrius Andrade (TKO 6). The volume-punching pressure fighter quickly established himself as a top light heavyweight with 12-round decision victories over former titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk and fellow contender David Morrell. Benavidez’s third light heavyweight bout will come against two-time title challenger Anthony Yarde in November with the WBC title on the line. Should the “Mexican Monster” prevail against Yarde, a showdown with former undisputed champ Artur Beterbiev could be on deck for early 2026. That’s one of the few contemporary matchups with the potential to equal
S
SPINKS TKO 8 MACDONALD JUNE 6, 1985
SPINKS TKO 7 LOPEZ OCTOBER 18, 1980
BARBER TKO 3 MACDONALD DECEMBER 15, 1990
MICHALCZEWSKI UD 12 BARBER SEPTEMBER 10, 1994
GONZALEZ SD 12 MICHALCZEWSKI OCTOBER 18, 2003
CLOUD TKO 10 GONZALEZ AUGUST 8, 2008
s
STEVENSON TKO 7 CLOUD SEPTEMBER 28, 2013
the fireworks of Lopez’s many ring wars. There are multiple paths linking the light heavyweight action heroes, whose primes are separated by almost 50 years, but we found this eight-boxer Fightline. Can you find a faster route? If so, or if you have another Fightline you’d like to submit, send it to comeoutwriting@gmail.com. And remember, some fighters can be linked on paper by jumping forward and backward in time, but to be a true lineage the fights must come in chronological order.
BENAVIDEZ UD 12 GVOZDYK JUNE 15, 2024
GVOZDYK KO 11 STEVENSON DECEMBER 1, 2018
96 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker