At 24, bantamweight Tony Lopez (12-3, 4 KOs) is already an "old pro" in the fight game. The Fort Worth native has fought for smaller WBC or WBA belts in five of his last six fights and will do so once again when he fights Max Ornelas (10-0-1, 4 KOs) Friday, April 20th for the vacant NABA Bantamweight Title in Las Vegas at the Cox Pavilion and shown live on beIN Sports.
It's an amazing accomplishment for any fighter to get that many opportunities to fight for a title, especially someone with only 15 career fights. Lopez had a stellar amateur career before turning pro in 2012 at only 18. And although he is 3-3 in his last six fights suffering losses against the likes of Oscar Cantu, Stephon Young and Rico Ramos, he will get another crack at a title when he takes on Ornelas.
Lopez is not satisfied with what he could have accomplished thus far in his career due to those defeats but feels great on where he is today.
Lopez also believes the experience he gained from his losses will be the difference against Ornelas.
The "better team" Lopez refers to is his manager Casey Gutierrez and his head trainer, Raymond Barrera, better known as Ray Ray around Dallas Fort Worth. Ray Ray is also the brother-in-law of former world champion Paulie Ayala.
Lopez is excited to go to battle for the first time with these guys in his corner.
It's no secret that Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions has been signing several top fighters the last couple of years, led by their CEO Keith Veltre, out of DFW to help build their stable. And fighting under the legendary Roy Jones Jr. is not lost on Lopez.
Lopez is also representing his hometown of Fort Worth, historically known as a great fight town that produced the likes of former world champions Donald Curry, Stevie Cruz, Paulie Ayala and Gene Hatcher. Plus, current junior middleweight contender John Vera Jr. is also from Fort Worth and promoted by Roy Jones Jr. and now shares the same team as Lopez. Vera Jr. recently fought in a title eliminator in France coming up just short.
"I am taking it day by day and April 20th I will throw my name in the conversation to compete in the title chase so I'm definitely looking to get mentioned with those guys as well and it is good pressure, good pressure to have, good motivation and It fuels the fire where I'm from having those guys come out of here as well," continued Lopez.
Lopez feels he has the playbook on Ornelas, who also happens to be promoted by Roy Jones Jr. Boxing, and he will be ready for anything he throws at him.
Lopez knows the opportunity he has in front of him with his new team and is fortunate to once again be fighting for a NABA title. Another loss against a tough opponent could finally see those chances start to dwindle.
He's now no longer the young, rising star but instead the experienced, savvy veteran. At 19, that title now belongs to Ornelas.
And if Lopez decides he could use some extra motivation for his fight with Ornelas, he could certainly look no further than new coach Ray Ray to put a call into his brother-in-law and Fort Worth legend Ayala for some tips.
After all Lopez is a southpaw at bantamweight just like Ayala was during his illustrious career. Now that's one hell of a connection for Lopez to have going into perhaps the biggest fight of his career. Hopefully for Lopez, Friday night in Vegas is when he begins to create his own legacy much like Ayala and others before him and his experience begins to pay off.