By John G. Thompson – Tim Coleman 18-1-1 (5 KO’s) displayed more power than his record might reflect in stopping Patrick Lopez 20-3 (12 KO’s) at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California on ShowBox: The New Generation. This was the first time Lopez had been stopped. In the opening bout of the televised card, Archie Ray Marquez 10-0 (7 KO’s; 1 ND) took out Juan Santiago 13-5-1 (8 KO’s) in just three rounds.
Marquez boasts an amateur record of 115-15 and fought in numerous Golden Gloves and national competitions before turning pro, though this was only his second fight of the year. Santiago, who has won two of his last four, has been extremely active with six fights in 2008, eight fights in 2009, and this was his fourth of 2010. Almost all of Santiago’s four losses came at the hands of undefeated fighters..
Neither man wanted to back down in the first round. Half way through the round Santiago gained confidence, landing a hard hook and started holding his hands low and ducking all of Marquez’s punches. Later in the round Marquez started coming on stronger, landing a combination at the bell.
Marquez hit Santiago with a painful looking low blow just thirty seconds into the second round and Santiago went down. Referee Ray Corona deducted one point from Marquez, though there had been no prior warning. Marquez attacked as the action continued and looked like he hurt Santiago with a combination, though Santiago fought back and they went toe to toe for a bit. Then Marquez landed a huge overhand right and Santiago went back into the ropes. Marquez came forward with everything in the arsenal, wailing on the head of Santiago, bouncing him off the ropes. Ray Corona could have stopped this at any point. Finally, Marquez landed a clean right which put Santiago down. He got up and the bell rang before they could continue.
Marquez came out just to finish the fight at the start of the third, backing Santiago into the ropes and letting loose with headshots. Santiago did nothing but try to block his head, for the most part without success, and the referee was forced to stop the fight.
Tim Coleman of Baltimore, Maryland, participated in approximately two hundred amateur bouts. He is now trained by Roger Mayweather, and has trained with the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah, Cory Spinks, and Alfredo Angulo. In his last fight he picked up the USBA light welterweight title in a close twelve round split decision over “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis. Patrick “El Elegante” Lopez comes from Venezuela and now resides in New Hampshire. He also possesses excellent amateur experience with almost three hundred bouts and two trips to the Olympics for Venezuela. The southpaw had already fought three times in 2010 and won five straight since his last loss.
While Coleman’s record of four knockouts in seventeen prior bouts does not indicate a power puncher, under the tutelage of Roger Mayweather, Coleman put his punches together and finished his opponent. The first round was close, with each man trying to measure the other. Coleman landed a great combination with a right putting Lopez down early in the second round. This was only the second time Lopez had ever been knocked down. Later in the round Lopez came on strong, digging to the body of Coleman and backing him into the ropes.
In the third round, Coleman came out swinging and Lopez was happy to answer, creating some great action early on. As the round progressed the action slowed and each man seemed to be trying to time the other. With less than a minute left in the round, Coleman caught Lopez with a perfect right uppercut as Lopez was coming in. Lopez went down hard in a potential candidate for knockout of the year – this really was a perfect uppercut. Lopez got up by the count of six, but then staggered and fell into his own corner, prompting the referee to stop the bout.
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