Josesito López: Riverside Rocky and Victor Ortiz Upset
José Manuel “Josesito” López, nicknamed “The Riverside Rocky,” is an American professional boxer from Riverside, California. After more than 70 amateur bouts and titles in the Junior Olympics and Junior Golden Gloves, he turned professional in 2003. He stopped Allen Litzau in the first round of his debut.
Boxing career and major results
López’s defining upset came on June 23, 2012, when he faced former world champion Victor Ortiz at Staples Center in Los Angeles. López hurt Ortiz with a left hook in the ninth round; Ortiz could not continue because of a broken jaw, and López won by retirement at the end of the round.
In March 2015, López headlined the first Premier Boxing Champions broadcast on Spike TV against former welterweight champion Andre Berto. Berto knocked him down twice and stopped him in the sixth round. These headline fights frame a career built around tough assignments and a breakthrough win in front of his hometown crowd.
The Ortiz result became the turning point because López converted a competitive fight into a win when Ortiz could not continue. His later loss to Berto also showed the level of opposition he continued to accept: Berto scored two knockdowns before the stoppage. Together, those bouts capture both the breakthrough and the difficulty of sustaining it.
Sources
Sources: Josesito López biography; Los Angeles Times on López–Ortiz; Premier Boxing Champions on Berto–López.
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
