Marcos Maidana stops Josesito Lopez, shows punching power is still the ultimate equalizer

Maidana is my favorite fighter for his scrappy style and his huge heart plus punching power. The opening statement of this article captures the essence of the bull and the matador type fights, like Ali - Frazier....
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Boxing is more than just a contest to find out who punches the hardest. Part of the magnificence of the sport is watching a fast, smart, technician discover a way to defuse the power of a knockout artist.

Marcos Maidana and his knockout win over Josesito Lopez was the kind of fight boxing fans love. 

Lopez was fighting brilliantly, particularly in the fourth and fifth rounds, as he repeatedly tagged Maidana with a series of clean, hard shots. He found a home for his straight right time and again, hitting the target like a pitcher firing a fastball directly into the catcher's mitt.

That became clear in the sixth when Maidana picked up the pace after struggling for a couple of rounds and absorbing a great deal of punishment. Midway through the sixth, Maidana hit Lopez with a body shot that seemed to suck the air out of him. Lopez froze, and Maidana blasted him with a crushing straight right.

Lopez staggered back to the ropes and then hit a knee, where he took the eight-count. When he got up, he was greeted by a punishing right uppercut. Referee Dr. Lou Moret gave Lopez a chance to fight his way out of trouble, but finally hopped in at 1:18 of the sixth to stop it.

Lopez moaned about the stoppage, and it was understandable given how well he was doing, but Maidana is one of the hardest pound-for-pound punchers in the game and too many more of those right hands wouldn't have been good for Lopez's long-term health.

Maidana is never out of a fight, no matter how far behind he falls, because with him, one punch can change everything. "My character and my guts got me this victory," Maidana said.  

And this is where it all pays off for the fans:

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer could barely contain his glee after the main event, a back-and-forth battle that had the crowd cheering deliriously throughout...  Schaefer promised such fights would be the future of the sport.

 

Schaefer said. "The fighters and the networks have learned that the fans want to see action fights. That's what the audience wants to see. Winning and losing, winning means a lot, but [what is really important] is giving them great fights."

Whatever it is, fights like Maidana-Lopez are the type that will bring the fans back. The crowd was as intense as the fighters Saturday and the atmosphere was like it was a major world title showdown.

 Schaefer said he's on a mission to rid boxing of boring fights. 

"Golden Boy is going to make it a priority to sign action fighters and to put together fights we think are going to be action-packed," he said. "We've heard from the fans and this is what they want. They want those kinds of fights and that's what we're going to try to do."

This is welcome news for fight fans have tired of watching Champions like Wladimir Klitschko  sleepwalk through many noncompetitive fights...  

Abandoning the focus on superstars like Floyd Mayweather, jr. whose primary concern is protecting his 'unbeaten' status.  Such fighters become averse to the idea of taking chances, going after the KO and fighting with the idea of entertaining the fans.  

Floyd earns obscene amounts of money for beating handpicked opponents who are unlikely to give him  the kind of fight that fans want to see.

Let the many other boxers have a chance to earn some decent money for giving a respectable account of themselves in fan pleasing fights.  End the "Star" system just the way Hollywood did when certain actors demanded too much......

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/boxing--marcos-maidana-stops-josesito-lopez--shows-punching-power-is-still-the-ultimate-equalizer-055844287.html