06.05.08 – by Pavel Yakovlev: Mike Oliver, rated second in the world by the IBF in the super bantamweight division, is not resting on his laurels. Far from it. This week he faces tough, experienced Reynaldo Lopez of Colombia in a scheduled 10 rounder at The Roxy Nightclub in Boston. Lopez enters the bout with a record of 28-5-2, including 19 knockouts, and he has distinguished himself in grueling matches against some of the world’s best fighters in the super flyweight, bantamweight, and super bantamweight divisions..
Oliver, of Hartford, Connecticut, is currently 21-0, with seven knockouts as professional. This past year he has emerged near the top of the world ratings and boxing experts are talking seriously about his potential to win a world championship in the super bantamweight division. Presently in line for a title shot at IBF super bantamweight world champion Steve Molitor, Oliver could have opted for a tune-up bout against an easy opponent instead of facing the rugged Lopez. But Mike Oliver is not a fighter that looks for easy wins.
Perhaps Oliver’s trainer, John Scully, put it best. “Most fighters ask lots of questions about possible opponents before accepting fights with them,” explained Scully. “They’re concerned about who they are fighting. But Mike isn’t like that. He doesn’t care who he fights. He’ll fight anyone.”
The quality of Oliver’s recent opposition underscores Scully’s remarks. Since 2006, Oliver has beaten Adam Carrera (18-1), Gary Stark Jr. (18-0), Vernie Torres (27-9), Cruz Carbajal (28-13-2), and Al Seeger (27-2). This is tough opposition by any measure.
The July, 2007 win over Carbajal was especially important, as the match was officially sanctioned by the IBF as an elimination bout to determine a mandatory challenger for the world championship at 122 lbs.
Noteworthy also was the easy, one-sided manner in which Oliver beat Carbajal. The decision was a virtual shutout, with Oliver winning by scores of 120-108, 120-108, and 119-109. The value of this win is measured by the fact that Carbajal had previously given tough fights to WBO world champion Ratanachai Sor Vorapin and former IBF world champion Eric Aiken.
Oliver followed-up on the Carbajal win by out pointing Al Seeger in November, 2007. Despite having his right eye swollen nearly shut by an accidental head butt early in the bout, Oliver clearly out boxed and outfought Seeger in a grueling bout and won a unanimous decision. Although known primarily as a technical boxer, in this bout Oliver switched gears and utilized lots of aggressive combination punching to beat down Seeger. Oliver hurt his opponent several times in the match and he came on particularly strong in the later rounds to win by scores of 116-111, 115-112, and 114-112.
The scrappy, aggressive nature of Oliver’s performance against Seeger signals that he is adding versatility to his boxing tactics. He is now building infighting skill to compliment his already well-developed abilities as a fast, mobile, technical boxer.
“Lately we’ve been working on developing Mike’s infighting and body punching tactics,” said Scully. “Mike hits harder than his record indicates,” he added. “He can get a guy out of there if he lands cleanly with his right hook.”
The southpaw Oliver’s best punch is his fast, accurate right jab, a weapon he used to near perfection against Carbajal last year. Oliver is also known for unleashing sudden, unexpected combinations, sometimes throwing as many as 30 punches in a single flurry.
Oliver’s opponent, Reynaldo Lopez, will definitely force him to maintain a high punch output when they meet this Wednesday at The Roxy Nightclub.
In his most recent match, Lopez fought an aggressive fight against a Mexico’s Daniel Ponce de Leon, who is a guy most boxers rightfully try to run from (de Leon, a blistering puncher, has knocked out 30 of his 35 professional opponents). After three rounds of counterpunching the powerful de Leon, Lopez took his fight inside in the fourth round and began to outfight de Leon. In the fifth round however Lopez apparently became overconfident, and as a result of his aggressive tactics he left himself open and was knocked out.
Despite being stopped for the first time in his professional career, Lopez proved he could take a punch in the de Leon bout. Throughout the match he absorbed numerous power shots that would have leveled almost any other super bantamweight in the world.
Two years ago Lopez lost a razor thin decision to Russia’s Dmitri Kirilov in Moscow. Kirilov is currently the IBF world super flyweight champion. In this match Lopez established he is not intimidated when fighting hometown fighters on their own turf.
Given the styles, experience, professional stature and ring records of Oliver and Lopez, this writer expects that Wednesday’s match will be fast paced and action packed. Lopez will almost certainly attempt to pressure Oliver, much as he did against de Leon. Oliver will respond by maintaining a high punch output, alternating his tactics between long-range boxing and fighting inside when necessary.
The Oliver-Lopez bout will be held at May 7th at The Roxy Nightclub, located at 279 Tremont Street in Boston. The doors open at 5:30pm and the undercard bouts begin at 7pm. Tickets are $40 and $75 and can be purchased by calling 508-586-2277. The card is promoted by Cappiello Promotions.