Lopez flusters Miller, captures WBC Latino Middleweight belt

“Get up and fight like a Mexican!”

This is what Samuel Miller yelled at David Lopez as he doubled over in the corner after absorbing the full effect of an obvious low blow in the 10th round of Friday night’s fight at Desert Diamond Casino.

Lopez’s response? A landslide unanimous decision victory in one of the Nogales, Sonora, native’s most fundamentally sound performances in his career.

“I knew Miller was going to try some dirty stuff, but I just stuck to the game plan, boxed him and kept racking up points,” Lopez said through his interpreter, trainer and manager Javier Zapata.

Judges scored the bout 119-108, 118-109 and 117-110, much to the delight of the pro-Lopez crowd. The Green Valley News scored it 118-109 for Lopez.

The win propels “The Destroyer” (37-12, 23 KO) to his 13th consecutive win and the WBC Latino Middleweight title — and, if things fall correctly, a shot at the WBC Middleweight belt.

Lopez will keep a close eye on the Oct. 18 bout between Marco Antonio Rubio and Enrique Ornelas on the Kelly Pavlik/Bernard Hopkins undercard. It is Lopez’s and Zapata’s understanding that Golden Boy Promotions intends to match “The Destroyer” with the winner of that bout in the official WBC title eliminator, with that winner elevating his status to a mandatory opponent for Pavlik — the recognized middleweight kingpin and one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighters.

However, if Pavlik ends up vacating that WBC belt and moving to a higher weight class (his fight with Hopkins is at the 175-pound light heavyweight limit), the eliminator fight would turn into an interim title bout.

Lopez, currently ranked No. 3 by the WBC, is eager for the opportunity.

“Every fighter, Nos. 1-10, has been avoiding David,” Zapata said. “Nobody wants to fight him. But after the WBC has its November conference, we hope this will all get straightened out and David will finally get the shot he deserves.”

Lopez and Rubio were originally scheduled to face each other on April 19 on the Hopkins/Joe Calzaghe card in Las Vegas, but Rubio pulled out of the fight two weeks before with what he called a hand injury.

However, the Lopez camp doubted the validity of Rubio’s late withdrawl.

“Rubio didn’t want to face us,” Zapata said. “Nobody does, because he keeps winning.”

Swing and a miss

Miller hoped to be the first fighter in the last three years to hand Lopez a loss, and came out swinging from the opening bell.

The hard-punching Colombian (18-3, 15 KO) boasts an impressive knockout rate, but didn’t possess the patience or the skill to trade blows with Lopez througout the 12-round bout.

Nearly every punch Miller threw in the first four rounds was a wild, looping haymaker. He had no intention of winning by decision.

Lopez easily saw these punches coming and picked them off with his gloves and slipped them with his improved footwork and head movement.

Miller wanted to turn the fight into a brawl, but Lopez fought at a controlled, measured pace and maintained a calm demeanor.

As Miller grew increasingly frustrated, he began to resort to holds, grabs, elbows, low blows and forearms. Referee Bobby Ferrara repeatedly warned Miller for holding and hitting Lopez behind the head, finally docking a point in the 11th round.

Lopez, on the other hand, was warned four times for low blows — most of which were borderline shots on the belt line.

Lopez resisted the temptation to retaliate for the dirty tactics — a lesson he learned after his 2005 loss to Fulgencio Zuniga, another Colombian fighter who enjoyed bending the rules.

“I could tell Miller was getting frustrated,” Lopez said. “None of his shots hurt me, except for those ones that landed behind the head.”

Lopez pounded Miller with clean combinations throughout the bout, finishing with a bang in the 12th round after an epic nine-punch flurry. Miller’s work rate dropped dramatically after the fourth round.

On the undercard

In the evening’s co-main event, former two-time featherweight champ Kevin Kelley (60-9-2, 39 KO) dropped a split decision to up-and-coming lightweight David Rodela (11-1-2, 6 KO).

Kelley, who has engaged in memorable wars with “Prince” Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera during a wonderful 20-year career, simply didn’t have the quickness or power necessary to keep the feisty Rodela at bay.

Rodela was quicker to the punch and did an admirable job ducking and dodging Kelley’s attack.

Hot Golden Boy prospect Hylon Williams (5-0, 1 KO) won yet another easy unanimous decision against Scott Furney (3-6-1, 3 KO). Williams isn’t the most powerful fighter, but he is extremely skilled for an 18-year-old. Williams has yet to lose a round in his pro career.

Twins Jermell (5-0, 3 KO) and Jermall (2-0, 1 KO) each scored unanimous decisions in their four-round bouts.

Highly regarded Michigan prospect Dion Savage (3-0, 2 KO) had an easy time taking care of Roberto Young (0-1) in a unanimous four-round decision.

Thomas Herrera (2-0) took a razor-thin split decision from Dustin Day (0-2) in a rematch of their pro debuts last month at Gila River Casino in Phoenix.

In the evening’s final bout, bruising Tucson heavyweight Eric Woods (4-0, 3 KO) withstood a wild barrage from Andrew Fish (0-1) to land a crushing shot to Fish’s chin at the 1:05-mark of round one.

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