Danny Lopez was
born in Fort Duchesne, Utah on July 6th, 1952, mixed of Ute Indian,
Mexican and Irish heritage. He had a difficult childhood and was taken
into care when he was eight years old.
"My father left my mother with
eight kids and the state took the three youngest ones. I was one of
them," Lopez told RingTV. "They placed us in foster care. I lived
with different aunts and uncles in Utah on the reservation."
"My brother
Leonard boxed in the Marines and my brother Ernie boxed at Stans Boxing
Club. It was because of them that I wanted to box. I took it up when
I was 16."
During his amateur career, Lopez won regional Golden Gloves
tournaments and estimates he had around 50 amateur contests. He migrated
to Los Angeles and turned pro in 1971.
He became a popular local attraction
over the next couple of years, regularly fighting at the Olympic Auditorium
and, later, the Forum. His older brother Ernier was also a talented
boxer who twice unsuccessfully challenged Jose Napoles for the welterweight
title.
Other than a bad spell from 1974 into early 1975, when he lost
three of four, including a war with Bobby Chacon, Lopez won all his
bouts. He had beaten four-time world title challenger Chucho Castillo
(TKO 2), former 118-pound kingpin Ruben Olivares (KO 7) and seasoned
contender Art Hafey (TKO 7).
Those victories set him up to challenge
and win the WBC title in the fall of 1976.
"Probably winning the (WBC)
featherweight title over in Ghana, Africa, from David Kotey, that
was my proudest moment," Lopez said. "I had to run at 4:00 a.m in
the morning; it was hotter than heck over there. The people were nice.
I think the people thought he was going to beat me.
"When they announced
I had won the title, you could hear 15 Americans stand up and cheer
for me out of 100,000 people in the soccer stadium.''
His most notable
defense was a hellacious was with Mike Ayala. It took place in his
challenger's backyard of San Antonio, Texas. "Little Red" dropped
Ayala twice before stopping his rival in the 15th round in The Ring
Magazine's "Fight of the Year" for 1979.
In early 1980, Lopez yielded
his title to Sanchez in a terrific all-action encounter, in the 13th
round. They met in a rematch that summer. Lopez again tried to use
his methodical pressure to break down the Mexican, who wa able to
outbox him and stop him in the penultimate round.
"Salvador was a smart
fighter," he said of the 27 frenetic rounds he shared with Shanchez.
"He could move; he could punch. I never could hit the guy. He was
a special fighter."
Lopez retired before making an ill-advised one-off
comeback that ended in defeat, leaving his record at (42-6, 39 knockouts)
In 2010, Lopez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of
Fame.
Lopez, now 66, is married to Bonnie; they live in Chino Hills, California and have three sons and six grandchildren. He enjoys playing in golf tournaments, going for walks, watching movies and using Facebook.