Ernie Lopez

Ernie "Indian Red" Lopez (September 24, 1945 – October 3, 2009) was an American professional boxer. He twice fought for the world welterweight boxing title, losing title bouts to José Nápoles in 1970 and 1973. He was a missing person from 1992 to 2004 and was the subject of extensive press coverage in early 2004 when, after being selected for induction into the California Boxing Hall of Fame, he was found at a homeless shelter in Fort Worth, Texas.

Early years Lopez was born on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Fort Duchesne, Utah. His mother was a Ute Indian, and his father claimed to be Juaneño, although there is no federal or state recognition for any Juaneño group. He married as a teenager and moved to Pasadena, California, where he boxed out of the Pasadena YMCA. He later recalled that he learned to box from his father and added, "But sometimes I learned when I watched my father hit my mother."

Lopez had a career record of 51-10-1,

Lopez won two out of the three bouts with Lewis. In 2004, Lewis said of Lopez, "He was aggressive and always on the attack. Ernie was a crowd-pleaser because he was a fighter. Period. He fought." In 1971, boxing writer Dan Hafner said of Lopez:

It is the misfortune of Ernie (Indian Red) Lopez to come along when one of the all-time greats, José Nápoles, rules the welterweight division. The fiery, part-Ute Indian demonstrated beyond doubt on Thursday night that he is the class of the rest of the 147-pounders. In his smartest and possibly best fight of his career, Lopez pounded out a unanimous, one-sided 10-round decision over highly regarded Oscar Albarado and gave a masterful performance.

Sugar Ray Leonard, who watched Nápoles fight Lopez, shared a similar opinion, "If it wasn't for Nápoles, Ernie probably would have been champion." With the impetus of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department agreed to assist Lopez's family in trying to locate him. In February 2004, Lopez was discovered living in a homeless shelter in Fort Worth, Texas. When contacted by his ex-wife in 2004, Lopez stated, "I'm not lost. I'm right here." On learning of his selection for the Hall of Fame, Lopez told the Los Angeles Times, "Why are they doing this for me? I wasn't good enough for the Hall of Fame." Shortly thereafter, Lopez was re-united with his four children and 23 grandchildren.

Lopez's story became the subject of multiple newspaper and television stories, with reporters and television camera crews coming to the homeless shelter to interview him. He told the Los Angeles Times at the time that he did not recall why he moved to Fort Worth, but he recalled "living with a church family in Missouri, shoveling snow for a hotel owner in Portland, Maine, sleeping in New York's Central Park, working construction in Florida and cleaning hotel rooms in Phoenix." He told another reporter, "I've been all over the United States. Might have missed a few states, but it's sure a nice place. But I never stayed too long anywhere."

Death On October 3, 2009, Lopez died in Pleasant Grove, Utah from complications of dementia at age 64.

Professional boxing record

Loss

KO 1 07/07/1987

Loss

TKO 7 29/10/1974

Loss

TKO 7 26/07/1973

Loss

KO 7 28/02/1973

Win

KO 5 10/11/1972

Win

RTD 5 12/10/1972

Loss

UD 10 30/03/1972

Win

TKO 3 20/01/1972

Win

UD 10 28/10/1971

Win

UD 10 16/09/1971

Win

TKO 2 08/07/1971

Loss

MD 10 03/05/1971

Win

MD 10 20/01/1971

Win

UD 10 10/10/1970

Win

KO 6 03/08/1970

Win

KO 8 08/07/1970

Loss

TKO 15 14/02/1970

Win

TKO 10 04/10/1969

Loss

UD 10 10/07/1969

Win

UD 10 13/03/1969

Win

KO 1 18/02/1969 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Win

TKO 9 30/01/1969

Win

PTS 10 31/07/1968

Win

TKO 9 18/07/1968

Win

UD 12 30/04/1968

Loss

UD 10 03/03/1968

Win

UD 10 08/02/1968

Win

KO 4 20/11/1967

Win

TKO 10 12/10/1967

Win

KO 3 08/08/1967

Win

KO 7 06/07/1967

Win

PTS 10 13/06/1967

Win

PTS 10 22/05/1967

Win

TKO 8 20/04/1967

Win

PTS 10 27/03/1967

Win

PTS 10 06/03/1967

Loss

UD 10 12/12/1966

Loss

SD 10 19/09/1966

Win

PTS 10 22/08/1966

Win

UD 10 21/06/1966

Win

UD 10 09/05/1966

Win

UD 12 04/04/1966

Win

PTS 10 28/02/1966

Win

TKO 3 14/02/1966

Win

KO 6 31/01/1966

Win

PTS 10 17/01/1966

Win

TKO 4 20/12/1965

Win

KO 1 06/12/1965

Draw

PTS 6 09/11/1965

Win

PTS 6 01/11/1965

Loss

UD 12 22/12/1964

Win

KO 8 19/10/1964 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Win

PTS 6 29/09/1964

Loss

KO 9 04/07/1964

Win

PTS 6 12/06/1964

Win

PTS 6 30/03/1964 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Win

KO 5 10/03/1964

Win

PTS 4 03/03/1964

Win

KO 1 13/02/1964

Win

KO 3 04/02/1964

Win

PTS 6 21/01/1964

Win

KO 2 24/06/1963