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Louie Lopez Continues March Toward World
Title With Victory Against Adrian Gutierrez
Photos: Chris Suchánek
This past Friday on Thompson Boxing’s “Path to Glory”
event at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA,
welterweight Louie Lopez (13-1-1, 4 KOs), of Corona, Ca,
defeated Adrian Gutierrez (12-1-1, 6 KOs) of Chula
Vista, Ca, by way of majority decision.
Both fighters had their moments throughout the fight,
but it was Lopez who was landing harder punches. Every
round was close, but Lopez outworked Gutierrez for a
majority of the scheduled 8-round bout. Lopez’ hand
speed was a major factor as he landed his flurries with
precise accuracy. Scorecards read 80-72, 79-73, and
76-76.
“Winning this fight against another undefeated prospect,
my third in a row, has got my confidence level to an all
time high,” said Lopez. “I knew if I stuck to my game
plan and just boxed, I would come out on top. I’m hoping
I’ll be making my entrance into the top fifteen of one
of the sanctioning organizations, with the hopes of
fight for a regional title next year.”
In the 8-round bantamweight co-main event, Manuel “Gucci
Manny” Flores (14-0, 12 KOs) of Coachella, California,
destroyed Armando Torres (26-23, 19 KOs), of Mexico
City, in the first round. Flores sent Torres to the
canvas three times before the fight was stopped. The
first two were body shots, and the last was a left hook,
right hook combo. The fight was halted at the 1:35 mark
of round one.
In bout number three, middleweight Nelson "Nuckle" Oliva
(5-0, KOs), of Rialto, CA, annihilated Mike Plazola
(2-3, 1 KO) of Waterloo, IA. The scheduled 6-round bout
only made to the .59 mark of round one. Oliva dropped
Plazola three times before the fight was stopped.
In the second bout of the night, a scheduled 6-round
lightweight contest, Erick "Aidahoe" Garcia Benitez
(4-3, 1 KO) of Guadalajara, Mexico, upset Ioannis "The
Greek Assassin" Manouilidis (3-1) of Los Angeles, CA.
Benitez was relentless in his attack and dropped
Manouilidis with a right hook in round one.
Manouilidis was cut under the left eye in round four by
a punch but continued. Both fighters were engaging,
throwing hard shots throughout the entire fight, but it
was Benitez that was getting the best out of the
exchanges. Scorecards read 59-54, 59-53, 58-54.
In the opening bout of the evening, super lightweight
Juan Sanchez (5-0, 5 KOs), of Buena Park, CA, scored a
second-round knockout over Miguel Angel Barajas (3-2, 2
KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico. Sanchez showed great
composure as Barajas was throwing wild punches but
couldn’t land anything meaningful.
Sanchez kept coming forward and landed a powerful right
hook to the temple, sending Barajas to the canvas in
round two. Moments later, Sanchez landed a flurry of
punches to the head of Barajas forcing the referee to
stop the fight at the 2:34 mark of round two.
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