Yaqui López

Álvaro López (born May 21, 1951, in Zacatecas, Mexico), known as Yaqui López is a former Mexican boxer and current member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame (not to be confused with the International Boxing Hall of Fame). A native of Zacatecas, López is considered by many as one of the greatest Light Heavyweights to never become world champion.

Early life López was born in Zacatecas, Mexico.

A young López had dreams of becoming a Matador. During his first bull fight when López was in his teens, a bull drove its horns into his ankle and shattered it. Due to his injury, López decided not to purse a bull fighting career.

Amateur career López ended his amateur boxing career with a record of 13–3. At the Diamond Belt Championship in Eureka, California, he knocked out the defending champion to win the title.

Professional career In April 1972, Álvaro won his pro debut against Herman Hampton at the Civic Auditorium in Stockton, California. The two would rematch in Carson City, Nevada less than two months later, with Álvaro stopping the bout early by knockout in the 2nd round.

WBC Light Heavyweight Championship On October 9, 1976, López lost a unanimous decision to world champion John Conteh. The fight was held in Denmark.

WBA Light Heavyweight Championship Álvaro met Víctor Galíndez in two installments for the WBA Light Heavyweight Championship. The fights were held in Italy. Some boxing writers thought that Álvaro won the fights, though the decision victories went to the champion, Galíndez.

He was one of the few boxers of his time to challenge James Scott at the Rahway State Prison.

1980 Fight of the Year López would later fight in Ring Magazine's 1980 Fight of the Year against WBC Light Heavyweight Champion, Matthew Saad Muhammad. López dominated the first half of the fight, but all three score cards very close up until the fourteenth round. López eventually ran out of energy to continue fighting and was stopped.

WBC Cruiserweight Championship In Álvaro's last world title attempt, he would lose to the much younger WBC Cruiserweight Champion, Carlos De León. López would then wait almost a year before fighting Bash Ali. Following the match, he retired from boxing.

Legacy Lopez is a member of both the California Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. He has his own gym named after him, Yaqui Lopez's Fat City Boxing.

Professional boxing record

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