Lopez moves up to superbantam

MANILA, Philippines - Admitting he failed to stop WBC superflyweight titleholder Yota Sato in his tracks, Silvester Lopez yesterday conceded defeat to the Japanese in his first attempt to win a world crown and said he will jump to the superbantamweight division in his return to the ring in two to three months.

Lopez lost to Sato via a unanimous 12-round decision in Yokohama last Sunday. The judges’ scorecards weren’t close. Canada’s David Bilocerkowec saw it 118-110, Las Vegas’ Lou Moret 119-109 and Korea’s Chan Soo Kim 116-113. It appeared that Lopez had little energy after two trips to the scales to make the 115-pound limit at the weigh-in the day before. He hardly showed the aggressiveness that led to knockouts in his previous five fights and catapulted him to No. 1 in the WBC ratings. There were no knockdowns in the dull bout and neither fighter was even slightly hurt.

Lopez’ manager Gabriel (Bebot) Elorde, Jr. blamed the scales brought by promoter Keiichiro Kanehira for the energy drop. “The day before the weigh-in, Silver was 2 1/2 to three pounds over the limit so we didn’t think there would be a problem,” said Elorde. “We used the official scales of the Japan Boxing Commission during Silver’s medical check-up. But at the weigh-in, Kanehira used his own scales which wouldn’t balance at 115 and insisted for Silver to reduce. It was just a matter of 100 grams. Silver went to the bathroom, did some spitting and went back to the scales after 15 minutes. Kanehira wasn’t satisfied. WBC supervisor Frank Quill didn’t object. So Silver had to skip rope for 20 minutes before finally, the needle stayed steady at 115.”

Elorde sent Lopez and trainers Archiel Villamor and Ding Cabanela to Japan three weeks before the fight to acclimatize at his expense. Kanehira paid for hotel and food expenses for only seven days. “Silver had six sparring sessions of six rounds each against Oriental and Japanese champions in Japan,” said Elorde. “He was well-prepared and we invested in going to Japan early. Silver waited two years for his chance to fight for the world title and tried to hold his weight down to 115. But he’s 24 and growing. Still, he made weight and did his best. Sato just didn’t want to engage. He’s more of a track and field athlete than a boxer. He ran away from Silver.”

Elorde said Lopez gained the respect of the fans at the Bunka Gym in Yokohama. “Reporters crowded around Silver after the fight and Misako, the first Japanese boxer to fight in the Philippines after World War II in 1954, came up to me and apologized, calling Sato not a good champion, not a gentleman fighter because he kept on running. Sato didn’t give Silver a chance to fight. There was no clinching, it was a clean fight, but because Sato didn’t want to engage, it was boring. All Sato wanted to do was to go the distance because he knew he would win on points. If you watched the fight closely, you’ll notice Sato just jabbed from a distance and when Silver got close, he would throw a low blow or hit his thigh.”

Elorde said he’s not disputing the decision. “We lost, that’s boxing,” he said. “It wasn’t meant for Silver. God has a better plan. The night before the fight, we went to Mass at a Catholic church and prayed for strength to follow God’s will. Now that it’s over, Silver will come back as a superbantamweight. He will be more comfortable fighting at 122 pounds.”

Elorde has requested WBC president Jose Sulaiman to approve Lopez’ transfer to the superbantamweight division and “to include Lopez in the top 10 ratings for a possible WBC title fight.” Sulaiman replied, “It will be my pleasure to recommend him to the Ratings Committee … I heard he had (a) terrible problem (with) the weight, he is a hell of a good boxer.”

Elorde said a protest would be useless but he plans to report the apparent anomaly of the scales to Sulaiman. “The Japan Boxing Commission scales should’ve been used, not Kanehira’s,” he said. “Kanehira is Sato’s manager and I’m wondering why the Commission didn’t use its official scales. I just want to put it on record that something was wrong in the way they conducted the weigh-in.”

Lopez earned $50,000 as the mandatory No. 1 challenger’s purse. “Silver will rest for about two to three months then if he’s rated by the WBC in the superbantamweight division, maybe I can arrange for him to fight for the International or Silver title before going for the world championship,” said Elorde. “He’s still young. He’ll learn from this experience and come back wiser. I still believe that someday, Silver will become a world champion.”