By Peter Wells (@boxingsaddler):
It is so easy to forget about the Lopez prior to shocking Victor Ortiz - most likely because very few had even heard of the Riverside fighter. A rough ride to his defining night had seen him lose on 4 occasions and would not have been rated much higher than his opponent tomorrow, Mike Arnaoutis 24-9-2(11).
In California, Lopez 30-6(18) will have the chance to prove he deserves to stay at the same level that has seen him beat Ortiz (RTD 9) while lose to both Canelo Alvarez (TKO 5) & Marcos Maidana (TKO 6). His 34 year old opponent - who is set to fight again in just over a week - looks the perfect match for Lopez to impress, diving back onto the big shows in a packed Welterweight division.
Having lost 6 of his last 8 contests, Arnaoutis can only take the fact he is hard to stop as a positive - Danny Garcia (KO 4) and Victor Ortiz (TKO 2) are the only fighters to record inside the distance victories against this Greek warhorse. Demetrius Hopkins, Delvin Rodriguez, Tim Coleman, Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres have all been taken the 12 rounds against Arnaoutis. That isn't a bad resume but two defeats on the bounce against Issouf Kinda & Chris Algieri has shown that Arnaoutis is little more than a gatekeeper for fighters on the way up or bouncing back from a rough patch, in Lopez's case.
Lopez who stopped Mike Dallas Jr in 7 rounds can become the 3rd man to halt Arnaoutis, in an entertaining scrap that also highlights the vulnerabilities in Lopez's game.
Elsewhere on the show Francisco Vargas 17-0-1(13) is looking to remain on course for a world title fight at Super Featherweight when he meets feather-fisted Jerry Belmontes 18-2(5).
Vargas outboxed fellow unbeaten Brandon Bennett last time out over 10 rounds, so isn't taking a step up in class. It's rather the opposite way around. Vargas packs a decent punch but Belmontes can take a punch well, and can survive several onslaughts before losing out on a wide unanimous decision.
Other unbeaten fighters on the undercard are Hugo Centeno Jr 19-0(10), Errol Spence 9-0(7), Joseph Diaz 7-0(5), Jermall Charlo 16-0(12), Julian Ramirez 9-0(6), Michael Hunter 2-0(2), Diego De La Hoya 1-0(1) and Stephen Shaw makes his professional debut.
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