Adam Lopez Remains Perfect, Beating His Third Undefeated Fighter

Super Bantamweight @Adam1Lopez remains undefeated & by unanimous decision over Mario Munoz. #ShoBox https://t.co/R1z3RHJRKo

— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) February 20, 2016

ATLANTIC CITY -- Adam Lopez calls the ring his sanctuary, the one place where he can be anyone he wants to be. He’s comfortable there. Even when it comes to facing someone he doesn’t know much about, like in the main event on Friday night of Showtime’s ShoBox show from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Lopez, the promising 25-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, was matched against Mexican Mario Munoz, who was making his United States debut. Lopez saw some film of the 25-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, though that was it. Some film. Nothing more.

It didn’t matter.

For the first time his comfort zone was tested, Lopez (15-0, 7 KOs) remained undefeated by winning a 10-round unanimous, super bantamweight decision, using constant pressure, accurate and heavy punching, fought wonderfully at different levels and had a straight-forward approach that broke down Munoz (16-1-1, 10 KOs), the third undefeated fighter Lopez has beaten on ShoBox. Judge Ronald McNair had it 97-93 for Lopez, while Eugene Grant and George Hill each had it 98-92.

“I saw some things Munoz did and I tried to time him with the right hand,” said Lopez, his right eye swollen from an elbow in the seventh round. “I thought I hurt him in the first round and again in the eighth. He hurt me with his shoulders and his elbows. In the seventh round, he hit me with an elbow in the eye.

“It’s the first time I was ever cut. But it’s part of the game and a learning experience. I’m not going to lie, I was scared. There are two type of fighters, either you lay down and die, or you fight. I did feel like I was in control. He threw tight punches. I hit with him with more effective blows. Fighting at different levels, it gives this optical illusion that I’m somewhere and the punch comes from somewhere else. Now, I think I’ll go home and drink a lot of beer and recover. I’ll look at another ShoBox next. I’m not afraid to take big steps.”

In the co-feature, the eight-round super middleweight bout between Ronald Ellis (12-0-1, 10 KOs) Jerry Odom (13-2-1, 12 KOs) ended in a majority draw and there wasn’t much to dispute that.

In the second, Odom landed a right to the body that backed up Ellis. Near the end of the second, Ellis unfurled a left hook, followed by a right that wobbled Odom. Up until that moment, Odom was winning the round. The little exchange seemed to throw a surge into Ellis. His punches were far more accurate than Odom’s. And just when it seemed his confidence was rising, Odom came charging back in the fourth. Ellis was still the more accurate puncher. He just didn’t throw many in the fourth.

The only difference between the two fighters in the final rounds was Odom’s punch output. A left hook to the jaw stunned Ellis for a blink. In the eighth, they both felt the fight was still in question—and it showed by the relentless way they went at each other.

The result depended on what you liked: Ellis’ crisp, cleaner punches, or Odom’s volume. In the end, judge Don Givens had it 78-74 for Ellis, while James Kinney and Lawrence Layton each had it 76-76.

The two combined to throw over a 1,000 punches during the eight rounds. Ellis landed 154 of a career-high 610 (25%) total punches thrown. Odom connected on 131 of 470 (28%), though it seemed Odom threw more. Ellis landed 40 of 277 jabs (14%) and Odom connected on 22 of 120 (18%) jabs. The power punches were very close. Ellis was 114-333 (34%) and Odom 109-350 (31%).

“It was a good fight, but I thought I did more than enough to win,” Ellis said. “The last two rounds I had him against the ropes and was putting pressure on him. Not taking anything from him, but after the third round, I hurt my right hand. Notice the amount of jabs I threw (277). If I didn’t hurt my hand, I would have stopped him. I still thought I boxed him beautifully after the third round. I would take a rematch with him in a heartbeat. I’d fight him tomorrow. But making a fist with my right hand is really painful. Even after I hurt my hand, I had to throw a few right hands to let him know I wasn’t hurt. I think it’s sprained. It definitely hurts.”

It was a scrap worthy enough of a rematch to settle it.

O’Shanique “Ice Water” Foster (10-1, 7 KOs) keeps climbing back from his lone loss, and his seventh-round stoppage of Lavisas “Red” Williams (8-1-1, 3 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round lightweight bout was further proof. The twist of Foster’s victory is that Williams beat Samuel Teah, who handed Foster his lone loss.

Foster, 22, dropped Williams four times, before referee Shada Murdaugh intervened at :52 of the seventh and waved it over. Otherwise, Foster was great on his feet, used positioning and distance very well, and renewed the promise many had in him before his loss.

Foster landed 94 of 246 total shots (38%) to Williams’ 46-343 (13%). Williams couldn’t avert Foster’s power. Ice Water landed 67 of 154 power shots (44%) to just 26 of 123 (21%) for Williams.

In the first TV fight, Chris “Ice” Brooker (7-1-1, 5 KOs) was gunning for two-straight upsets, when he stepped in against southpaw John Magda (11-0-1, 7 KOs) in an eight-round super middleweight bout. Brooker, 24, has an all-or-nothing, go-for-broke style. He tends to lunge too much when he throws punches. There is raw talent there that needs to be considerably polished. When he’s on, he can be dangerous, as he showed when he handed Leo Hall his first pro loss back in December. He was looking to do the same against Magda.

The first round favored Brooker, then Magda’s superior experience began surfacing in the second round. He rocked Brooker a few times with straight lefts. In the third, Magda, 24, again connected with a straight left, and appeared to be controlling the fight. But Brooker used his physicality to climb back into the fight. He burrowed into Magda using his shoulders to lean in and position the smaller Magda in the corner and occasionally against the ropes. It helped set up Brooker’s looping rights.

If Brooker can learn to be a little more patient, shorten and keep his punches tighter, not lunge so much and improve his endurance, he could go a few places.

Somehow, judge Kinney saw it for Magda, 78-74, and Givens had it a 76-76 draw. Layton had it 78-74 for Brooker. Everyone else at ringside saw Brooker as the winner. Brooker landed 152 of 481 punches (32%) to Magda’s 78-of-268 (29%). The real difference came in the power shots. Brooker landed 133 of 380 (35%) to Magda’s 70 of 197 (36%). The eye test said Brooker was the winner. The stats bore that out, too.

“Magda was a strong puncher and countered well, but I showed hard work beats talent every day,” Brooker said. “I won this fight by being aggressive and my right hand was the key. In the beginning he was fast, but I placed my punches. I know I did enough to win.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.