Josesito Lopez tells Aron Martinez to "take five" with decisive 5th round stoppage

Photo Credit: Carlos Baeza / Thompson Boxing Promotions

Rancho Mirage, Calif. - Thursday night’s scheduled 10-round main event between boxers Josesito Lopez (32-6-0, 19 KO's) and Aron Martinez (19-3-1, 4KO's), was a must-win bout for Lopez.

Lopez needed to come out not only with the mindset of dominating the fight, but also had to win in a spectacular fashion for his career prospects.  Lopez did just that and earned a technical knockout over the tough and rugged Martinez in the fifth round at the intimate, but well-attended Agua Caliente Casino.

For the first several rounds, Lopez looked somewhat relaxed.  As he began to pick up the pace throughout the remainder of the fight, the frustrated Martinez did not seem to have a prayer of connecting with anything significant.

Lopez’s outside game proved to be fruitful all night against Martinez.  Although nowhere near a slouch or a pushover, Martinez simply couldn’t piece together the Lopez puzzle and counter his tactics.

Martinez has time and again shown that he cannot be overlooked, as he is a well-known fighter in the Southern California boxing circuit who has fought formidable opponents such as Alberto Herrera, Jesse Vargas, Prenice Brewer, Joshua Marks, and Joseph Elegele, among others.

Nevertheless, despite Martinez’s innate toughness and experience, Lopez controlled the entire match and took down Martinez comfortably.

“Aron is no slouch, he is tough.  But no one has dominated Martinez the way Jose did tonight,” stated Henry Ramirez, trainer for Josesito Lopez.  “And what Jose showed tonight, sets him up for his next match to be one of the big ones.”

Lopez’s performance surely made his hometown of Riverside very proud, and also reignited "The Riverside Rocky's" boxing career, as the impressive win brings with it the potential for Lopez to face some highly-ranked fighters in the near future.

Following his recent June 2013 loss to Marcos Maidana, Lopez's stature in the division undoubtedly tumbled.  But on Thursday, Lopez seemed more energetic and spirited in his approach compared to the Maidana bout.  He will need to carry that same level of energy with him into his next fight if he is to stay among the best in his division.

“Next will be a big fight, one of the big fights.  Jose is back,” said Ramirez.

At the end of tonight’s fight, heavyweight contender Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (36-3, 31KOs), who came out to support Lopez and to congratulate him on his victory, took the opportunity to encourage everyone to attend his own upcoming fight next month with the promise of seeing "the first-ever Mexican Heavyweight Champion.”

Arreola fights for the heavyweight championship against WBC number one-ranked contender Bermane Stiverne (23-1-1, 20KOs) on May 10, 2014, at the University of Southern California's Galen Center.

By Felix Hernandez
Contributing Writer for TheDailySportsHerald.com