Campas Has No Answer for Lopez

Luis Ramon “Yory Boy” Campas may have been the top draw for Sunday’s Sports Arena boxing card but it was fellow Mexican Jose Luis Lopez who took home the title as the night’s top fighter.

With shocking ease, Lopez defended his World Boxing Organization welterweight title when a battered Campas did not answer the bell in the sixth round. Lopez, 37-3-1 with 29 knockouts, dominated from the opening bell with his quickness and sharp punching combinations, leaving Campas with a deep cut over his right eye.

“No, I wasn’t surprised because I came here to win,” said Lopez, who won the WBO title last April when he knocked out Eamonn Loughran of Ireland in the first round in Liverpool, England. “My strategy was [simply] to outbox and outfight Campas. I was prepared.”

Campas was rocked early and often by Lopez, who effectively landed a left hook followed by a left uppercut combination that cut and floored Campas in the second round.

Campas, who dropped to 64-2, rallied in the fourth round with hard right hooks and was able to better smother Lopez’s left jabs. It was Campas’ best round of the fight but it did not last long.

At the start of the fifth round, a quicker and stronger Lopez ended any hope of a Campas comeback with a lunging left hook that staggered him. The rest of the round, Lopez tagged Campas with solid combinations and had him wobbly by the bell.

All three judges had Lopez ahead, 49-45, when the fight ended.

By defeating Campas, Lopez now hopes to move into position for a future big-money bout against Pernell Whitaker or Felix Trinidad but he really wants to facer Oscar De La Hoya. He isn’t counting on it, however.

“After seeing what I did tonight against Yory Boy, I don’t think that he’ll want to fight me,” Lopez said.

In other bouts, Gregorio Vargas of Mexico (33-5-1) defeated Mark Reels of Los Angeles (13-7) in a 134-pound matchup when the fight was stopped after three rounds. Jeff Crawford of Los Angeles won a pro debut fight for both fighters at 148 pounds when he knocked out Ramon Rabago of Los Angeles with 13 seconds left in the first round.