By: Sean Crose
Reiya Abe 25-3-1 has a championship opportunity on Saturday at Turning Stone Casino in New York when he faces 29-2 IBF featherweight Luis Lopez. On paper at least, it looks like an exciting contest between two fighters worth their figurative salt. First, an interesting story. Lopez wasn’t afraid to get wild in pursuit of his slick southpaw opponent. This tactic worked as Lopez was able to get the best of his men. By the second moment, it looked like Abe had a problem on his hands. His strategy seems to be to make himself delusional. However, Lopez was still able to land hard, taking down his body throughout the round.
To make matters worse, Abe returned to his corner with a serious black eye – the kind of black eye that can be a sign of significant damage. However, the ring doctor allowed the fight to continue. Lopez continued his attack in the third round. Once again, the ring doctor examined Abe’s eyes, and once again the challenger was allowed to fight. Credit must go to Abe in the fourth installment for giving it his all. The pace slowed a bit in the fifth round, but Lopez still controlled the tempo.
With that said, Abe was able to land effectively to his liking in the sixth round. However, by the end of season seven, Abe’s face was a complete mess, as both eyes were swollen. A ferocious upset in round 18 from Lopez caused the referee to finally stop the fight before Abe suffered further damage.
