Tony Lopez, Jr. (11-1, 4 KOs) takes on undefeated Stephon “Showstopper” Young (14-0-3, 6 KOs) in the co-feature on “Knockout Night at the D” in a ten round bout for the vacant WBA-NABA bantamweight championship in a matchup between two young and extremely hungry up-and-coming fighters.
This fight will be televised live on CBS Sports Network and ESPN internationally from the outdoor arena at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center this Friday, September 30th. This boxing event is promoted by Roy Jones, Jr. (RJJ) Boxing Promotions.
Both of these bantamweight prospect fighters have gotten off to good starts in their professional careers. Young has yet to lose and is ranked second by the NABA. When he stepped up in competition, he has held his own. Young battled to a majority draw against undefeated Nikolay Potapov in his only fight this year in April and he had a split decision draw with unbeaten Antonio Nieves last year. Meanwhile, Lopez knocked out previously undefeated Jerren Cochran in the second round from a devastating right uppercut in May of this year. His lone loss was to undefeated Oscar Cantu who he lost to via a split decision. Lopez, Jr. scored two knockdowns in the defeat and fought well in the later rounds, but could not overcome his slow start in that fight.
“I am just as fast and strong as he is, if not more so, and I am the much smarter fighter and I believe that my boxing IQ with be the difference marker in this bout that will help me to prevail over Young,” said Lopez, Jr.
Lopez, Jr. is the former WBC Youth International bantamweight champion and is ranked seventh by the NABA. More importantly for the twenty-two year old from Dallas, Texas, is that he is fully healthy this year, as he sat out all of last year to let his injuries heal properly.
“This is an extremely important fight for me,” said Lopez, Jr. “If I win this bout than I can take a step toward being considered a contender in the bantamweight division as opposed to just a prospect. It will also move me up higher in this weight class ranking and allow me to get more significant fights in the future.”
Despite Lopez, Jr.’s early success to his career, things have not always gone smoothly for him. During his first eleven fights, he was detained for several months because he was in the United States illegally (he has since resolved that issue), his girlfriend was pregnant, and he had to work a full time job for thirteen hours a day and then after his shift ended, train for another three hours.
“I had to deal with a lot of difficult obstacles early on in my career that made it extremely hard for me to fully focus on boxing,” said Lopez, Jr. “Nevertheless, despite all the distractions that I had to face, I only lost one fight which was a close one to a really good boxer and it was a blessing in disguise for me because it made me a more determined, tougher, and a harder working fighter, and now that I do not have to work full time anymore, so I can focus on boxing a hundred per cent.”
Lopez, Jr. started boxing when he was six years old with his dad in their backyard. The following year, he went to the Reyes Boxing Club in Fort Worth, Texas and started to train with Vincent Reyes, who is still his current trainer.
“Reyes is very instrumental to all my success that I have achieved throughout my boxing career,” said Lopez, Jr.
“He is so smart because he helps me to work smarter not harder, so I am always in the best possible shape for my bouts and he also watches a lot of film of my opponents, so when I enter the ring, I am always prepared for whatever they do.”
Tickets for Lopez, Jr. versus Young are still available and they are priced $99.99 for VIP ringside, $49.99 for ringside, and $24.99 and $14.99 for general admission (seated) and they are on sale through Ticketmaster or DLVEC.com.
“I want to make enough money from boxing to be able to take care of my family and give them a better life than what I had growing up,” said Lopez, Jr. “By winning bouts and eventually fighting for a world title will help me to create the financial stability that I want, as well as give me the opportunity to become the best boxer in my division.”
