Lopez and Mitchell Fight to 12-Round Draw

Tony Lopez of Sacramento and Brian Mitchell of South Africa fought 12 exciting rounds, each trying to unify the junior-lightweight boxing championship Friday night at Arco Arena. When it was over, they had achieved nothing.

The judges called it a draw.

Lopez won the early rounds, but Mitchell was clearly stronger at the finish, winning the last four rounds on The Times card, which also had it even.

Lopez, defending his International Boxing Federation title before about 9,880, won by 115-114 on the card of judge Hermodia Cedeno of Panama, but Mitchell, the World Boxing Assn. champion, was a 115-113 winner according to Dave Moretti of Las Vegas. Mike Lieanna of Chicago had it even, 115-115.

Lopez, primarily with his superior and busier left jab, owned Mitchell over the first two rounds. Mitchell, who has a history of eye cuts, was developing a reddened face after two rounds.

Mitchell began drawing close with the seventh round, which he clearly won. Early in the round, he quieted the crowd when he hurt Lopez in close with two body shots and two left hooks to the head.

Mitchell also won the ninth and 10th rounds. By then, Lopez was bleeding inside his mouth and had a lump forming near his right eye.

Lopez, 129 pounds, had cut Mitchell, also 129, on the right eyelid with a slashing left hook in the fourth round, but the wound was never a factor in the fight.

The 12th was a memorable finish, with both champions exhausted, swinging away wildly at each other at the final bell, the crowd on its feet and roaring.

On the undercard, undefeated Sacramento super-bantamweight Richard Duran fought an even fight for half of his eight-rounder with Steve Mwea of the Los Angeles-based Dame Boxing Club and Nigeria. Then the stronger Duran (17-0) gradually took over in the middle rounds. He had Mwea out on his feet for the last half of the seventh and won a unanimous decision.

Mwea was a bronze medalist for Nigeria at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Another Sacramento favorite, junior-lightweight Rowdy Welch, engaged in a bizarre, 28-second “fight” with Edward Parker of Houston in a scheduled 10- rounder. Welch had thrown two jabs when the boxers clashed heads and Parker came away with a gash over his left eye.

Oddly, the cut didn’t bleed at all, but referee Dave Nelson of San Jose nonetheless stopped it, on advice of ringside physician Smith Ketchum of San Francisco. It was ruled a technical draw, called for under California rules when a fight ends on a butt in less than three rounds.