Marcos Maidana gets TKO win over Josesito Lopez

Josesito Lopez wanted to believe his fighting heart could let him survive the heaviest punches of Marcos Maidana.

That effort made for an entertaining 16-plus minutes of boxing Saturday night at StubHub Center in Carson, but the theory was flawed.

The stauncher Maidana (34-3, 31 knockouts) made Riverside’s Lopez (30-6) absorb too many hard right hands, and when three more struck Lopez in his corner in the sixth round, referee Lou Moret stepped in and awarded Maidana a technical-knockout victory at the 1:18 mark.

At the stoppage, two judges had Lopez leading by a point on their scorecards.

“I felt like the stoppage was premature,” Lopez said. “He hurt me a little, but we’re professionals and we fight in situations like that.

“I did get stung, but was not down for the count.”

The pair engaged in the spirited battle that brought a sellout crowd of 8,629 to the arena, bringing them roaring to their feet after Maidana wobbled Lopez in the second with a hard right and another that later followed two uppercuts.

Lopez urged Maidana to keep bringing the action in the third, then greeted him with a hard left and right that dazed the Argentine former junior-welterweight title contender.

In the fourth, more Lopez combinations were followed by a good left and right that backed up Maidana, a near knockdown being ruled a slip by Moret.

“He punched me in the hip in the second round and it paralyzed me for two rounds — I couldn’t walk,” Maidana said afterward.

Lopez punctuated the fourth with more punishment of Maidana, but the momentum turned again in the fifth with Maidana unloading more rights, pounding Lopez to the body and head.

He then knocked Lopez down early in the sixth with a right cross before cornering Lopez for the decisive assault.

“It was a good job by the ref to stop it,” Maidana said. “Josesito is a tough fighter, but he has things still to learn.”

Defense being the principle thing.

“My character and my guts got me this victory,” Maidana said. “He underestimated my power. I knew I could knock him out.”

Promoter Richard Schaefer said after the bout that Maidana is in line to fight opponents including Adrien Broner, Andre Berto or Robert Guerrero next.

Before the main event, Alfredo Angulo had two knockdowns over Erislandy Lara in the bag but couldn’t keep his head out of the way of Lara’s left hand in the 10th round, suffering a probable broken orbital bone that caused Angulo to stop fighting.

Lara (18-1-2) was the beneficiary of the injury over Angulo’s left eye, the sudden turn of events striking after Lara belted Angulo with three left hands.

Angulo turned away as referee Raul Caiz Sr. stopped the super-welterweight bout, awarding Lara the technical knockout 1:50 into the round, a grisly hematoma-like bulge exploding in size above Angulo’s eye.

Ringside doctor Ed Ayoub said the likely orbital fracture is “very painful,” explaining why Angulo turned away from the battle. After Angulo complained he was thumbed, the California State Athletic Commission confiscated Lara’s left glove for inspection.

Two judges had Lara leading 85-84 at the stoppage, while another had it for Angulo, 86-83.

“He caught me with some good shots, but I took too long to get to this place in my career to let a couple of knockdowns get in my way,” Lara said.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com