Najee Lopez, age 22, took to the stage before big brother Hakim Lopez, age 27, and the brothers were both overjoyed to have their mom, Daphne, in attendance. She had never seen either boy fight in person, as amateurs even. Tito Lopez Sr had led the charge for the fighting Lopez boys, as trainer/mentor, but he died in 2020 before they put Ellenwood, Georgia on the pugilism map.
The Future Star Najee toed the lines against 37 year old Jeysson Monroy, who repped Colombia in the 2000 Olympics. The scrap got made for six rounds, or less, in the cruiserweight class. Monroy made his pro debut August 14, 2021, and triumphed, but Najee is no Brayan Guzman. In a get-to-know-him video which ran before the bout, watchers saw and heard co-trainer Asa Beard say, "If his father was here, he'd be super proud," and that's probably not up for debate.
Najee aka "Chino" is edging his way down to light heavyweight. He debuted as a pro in August 2021 weighing 209 pounds. He then scaled in at 199, 195, 192, and 186 for this test. Monroy, who had 150 plus amateur fights, stood too straight and stiff early. Najee's jab popped, and so did his straight right, in round two. Down went Monroy and Najee took a look at mom in the front row, to check her reaction. She yelled her approval a few seconds later when Najee trapped Monroy in a corner, and whaled away. The Colombian took a knee, and continued. "And he's looking across ring like he's mad at him," Malignaggi marveled as the bell tolled to end the round. "It looks like he's growing right in front of our eyes," Jones stated. And of eyes...Early in the third, blood on Monroy's right eye alerted the ref to some damage. He took the Colombian to ringside docs, and they decided it was over for Monroy.
The analysts scanned the tape and saw that the damage was likely caused by a swift and strong up jab from Najee. One could see on replay Monroy stepping back, registering the feeling in his eye, and turning distractedly to his right, raising a hand in acknowledgement of the depth of feeling.
In the stands, mother Daphne Lopez danced, clearly she found the site of her youngest sons' in ring acumen pleasing to her eyes. Daphne beamed, as did Matita, an aunt, and Shaasia, who happens to the twin of Hakim Lopez, as they shouted out praise for the ascending prospect.
Mom also beamed heavily when her Hakim walked up the steps and stood across from Cruse Stewart, a 33 year old Illinois born Minnesota resident. The older Lopez bro entered with a 12-0 (8 KOs) mark, and repping Ellenwood, Georgia, same as Najee. Stewart had to come back to make the light heavyweight limit at the weigh-in, so those in the know wondered if his stamina and strength would be his A-grade stuff.
“We brothers all fight differently, older brother Sharif was a mix of both, real fighter, real boxer…Najee is a boxer…me, in the middle, I like to pressure and movement, angles," Hakim said during fight week. "I move my head, if I have to box, I will, fight, I will fight, whatever needs to be done. I can adapt.” We saw his mix of skills in the first. Trainer Marc Farrait in the corner told him to not back straight out. "Do you hear me," said the no nonsense trainer from New York. Hakim answered in the affirmative and went back out for the second. The analyst crew spoke highly of Hakim's round two, where he stayed on the stick, not complicating it much, working the jab consistently.
Farrait had more to say, but overall, the tone stayed the same as rounds played out. Hakim threw more, imposed himself on Stewart, and looked to be piling up points.
The thought entered one's mind when watching, and listening to the Big 3 assess the 27 year olds' outing: It would be very valuable for any fighter on a ProBox TV card to watch themselves on playback, and hear Jones, Tarver and Malignaggi give their insights on technical matters.
The battle played out as seconds ticked down in the eighth. A javelin right caught Stewart almost flush at the 1:40 mark, he worked through the nasty bout of fatigue he was battling, and slipped it by a milimeter. The bell rang for the close, with big bro Lopez thinking it was safe to believe he got the nod. While tabulations were done the Big 3 dissected his work. Malignaggi: "I felt like Cruse Stewart coming in was the more talented of the two fighters, but Hakim Lopez wants this. He 'lives the life,' and he went out there, and he got it."
That he did, by scores of 79-73, times 3.
"Today is a special day for me," the winner, doing 8 for the first time, told Claudia Trejos after having his hand raised. "The number one reason, my mom's here, and she'd never been to a fight. The last round I wanted to make a banger, I usually don't do that, I wait for the KO to come...that round, I really wanted to close the show heavy, I really did."
