Written By Hector Sanchez
Photo Credit: Porfirio Barron, Jr. / One Vision Photography
Saturday night in Frisco, Texas and on short notice, Fort Worth's Tony Lopez (17-11, 7 Ko's) fought to a draw against the tough Henry Arredondo (8-1, 4 KO's) from San Antonio, Texas.
Prior to the fight, literally while he was warming up at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, InTheRing.net spoke to him about his fight that night.
He said that several fights that were supposed to happen with this same opponent had been cancelled for some reason or another. As for the fight, he said "I always stay active and I am always ready for a fight, and I just fought thirty four days ago." "I'm back on the night of Honorees to the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame and I'm ready to go."
Both fighters came in great shape to fight in what was scheduled to be an eight round fight. In the first round of the fight, the southpaw Lopez came out fast and was connecting with good right hand hooks and using feints to keep Arredondo at a distance. Arredondo held his ground but was a bit slower by the quick jabs of Lopez.
In the second round Arredondo picked up the pace and he came out forcing the action. Arredondo continued to put pressure on Lopez as they traded punches in the middle of the ring. Lopez bobbed and weaved as he slipped punches from Arredondo, but Arredondo was able to land a good punch at the end of the round. At this point in the fight it appeared to be an even fight.
As the fight went into the third round, Arredondo came out pressing the fight, but was continuously being countered by Lopez.
In the fourth, Lopez continued to land his hook early in the round, but the tough Arredondo began landing punches in the middle of the round and until the bell sounded. The fifth round was very close to the fourth, but Lopez was countering his way around the pressing Arredondo. It was clear that both fighter came to fight and wanted to prove a point.
The fifth and sixth rounds for Lopez and Arredondo continued with both fighters holding their ground by trading punches evenly, which made it a very difficult fight to score.
When the score cards were tallied, one Judge had it for Arredondo and the other two judges had it even, making it a draw. The scores read 59-55, 57-57 by the other two judges, for a majority draw.
After the fight, Lopez was in good spirits, but somewhat disappointed (. ??) that he had to settle for the draw. A seasoned but still young veteran, Lopez hasn't lost a step as he moves forward in his boxing career.
Lopez, said "for having to get ready in five days, game plan, it was tough, but I felt I pulled it out. "A longer fight camp, it would have been different, I am a warrior thick and thin." He went on to say "The fight was scheduled for eight rounds, and the day before the fight it was made six rounds, a bit of a curve ball, but you have to adjust."
As far as what the difference between six and eight rounds, Lopez said "I have 27 fights in this business, and if you look at the last three or four rounds of those fights, I win every round. Two more rounds would have made a difference."
UNDERCARD:
Emmanuel Tennison (1-3-1) from Fort Worth and Travaslo Talley (0-3) from Magnolia Arkansas.
Super welterweight Tennison, who had a height advantage over Talley, had his hands full against him but was able to land several good body punches as he backed up Talley around in the first round.
In the second round there was a lot grappling as both fighters held their ground in close. Talley was the aggressor and they scuffled in the corner at the end of the round, and Talley landed what appeared to be a late punch.
Early on in the third round, Tennison landed a big right hand on Tally, but unfortunately, Tally injured his elbow and had to retire at the 1:31 mark of the third round and it was called a TKO by Tennison.
Juan Gomez, Welterweight, Pro Debut, from Fort Worth, Texas versus Osmane Sylla (2-4-2) from Conway Arkansas.
From the beginning of this fight, Gomez was pressing the action against Sylla, but it was Sylla who was countering his way around the ring by landing quick punches to slow down Gomez.
The second round was similar to the first and Sylla appeared to have won the round and it was the same in the third round.
At the beginning of the fourth round, Gomez pressed Sylla but it was to no avail as the quick-handed Sylla went on to win by Unanimous Decision, 40-36, 39-37, 39-37, although the crowd saw it different.
Randy Rivera, Cruiserweight (1-0) Pro Debut, from Dallas, Texas versus Cesar Torres (1--1, 1 K0) from Tyler, Texas.
The first round was action packed as Rivera began landing combinations on Torres, who fired back with punches of his own. At the end of the round, Rivera landed a big right hand to the head of Torres just before the bell.
In the second round, the fans were hoping to help Torres as they chanted "Cesar, Cesar, Cesar." Both fighters exchange punches in the third and in the fourth round, Referee Cole had to take a point away from Rivera for holding.
In one of the best fights of the night, at the end of the fourth round, Torres landed a looping punch to the head of Rivera. Rivera appeared to slow down at the end of the fourth, but went on to win as the scores tallied out as 38-37, both for Rivera and 38-37 for Torres.
Roberto Cruz, (8-0), Super Welterweight from Killen, Texas versus Felipe Reyes (6-6) from Houston, Texas.
The undefeated Cruz and the shorter Reyes came out swinging as Reyes attempted to press the fight. Cruz appeared to be the quicker handed fighter as he landed the cleaner punches.
Round two was even, but in the third, Cruz began to dominate the fight as he landed combinations as he backed up Reyes and he wobbled him with a big punch in this round.
In the fourth round, Cruz had an early knockdown and then began to pummel Reyes on the ropes and the referee stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:19 of the fourth round, which was scheduled for six rounds.
This fight card was on the night of the announcement of the Texas Boxing Hall Of Fame Honorees, which included many boxing champions. Some of the champions in attendance included the Great Donald "The Cobra" Curry, former IBF, WBA and WBC World Welterweight champion.
Also in attendance was Fort Worth's Paulie Ayala, former NABF and WBA Bantamweight champion, and the IBO Super Bantamweight champion. In 1999 he was voted "Fighter of the Year" by The Ring magazine for his first bout against Johnny Tapia, which also won "Fight of the Year," and Troy Dorsey, an American former boxer and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions. He began dedicating himself to boxing in 1989 and would win the IBF World Featherweight Championship and IBO World Super Featherweight Championships of the world.
