López entered the fight as an undefeated WBC champion, already regarded as one of boxing’s top professionals.
The Mexican star was playing for his 20th world title after years of successfully defending the WBC title with precision boxing and sound protection.
In this ring stands Sánchez, who is the WBO champion with a record of 25-1. Although skilled and tough, the Puerto Rican faced the toughest challenge of his career against a champion many considered unbeatable.
From the first bell, López showed why. Instead of chasing Sánchez in the ring, López calmly waited for mistakes and punished almost all of them. His high alertness, good balance, and sharp timing allowed him to quickly cut down Sánchez’s offense.
Sánchez briefly found success with a hook to the body in the second round, but López quickly responded with two right hands that dropped the Puerto Rican champion with the first knockout of the fight. Sánchez hit the count, but López dominated the rest of the round.
From then on, López commanded the war. He repeatedly held back Sánchez’s attacks by inches before firing accurate counters down the middle. A right uppercut rocked Sánchez badly in the third round, and a left hook floored him again in the fourth. Frustration began to set in for the Puerto Rican, who abandoned his game plan and began throwing multiple punches in hopes of turning the fight around with one shot.
Instead, a wild attack created a huge opening for López.
Sánchez’s frustration finally boiled over when he began forcing López’s head down during the exchange, drawing a point from referee Arthur Mercante Jr.
It ended and started in the fifth round.
López grabbed Sánchez by the ropes and unleashed one of the most memorable combinations of his career. A vicious left hook highlighted the frenzy, sending Sánchez crashing to the canvas for a second time. Although he managed to stand, he seemed confused and defenseless. Mercante came in and stopped the bout at 1:58 in Round 5, giving López the knockout victory and unification championship status.
The performance cemented López’s reputation as perhaps the greatest minimumweight champion the sport has ever produced. While most champions rely on speed or power, López combines excellent footwork, good timing, defensive awareness, and punching techniques into a flawless package. Against Sánchez, every aspect of his skill set was on display.
Ironically, the merger was short-lived. Shortly after the victory, López reportedly told Mexican media that he wanted to give his father the WBO championship belt as a personal gift. The WBO interpreted that comment as a resignation from the title and stripped him without a formal hearing. The organization quickly declared the belt vacant and ordered contenders Eric Jamili and Mickey Cantwell to fight for the championship, a decision López’s camp criticized as lacking due process.
The setback did not diminish his career. López went on to defend the WBC title, later added the WBA belt after his bout with Rosendo Álvarez, moved up to light flyweight to win the IBF championship, and retired in 2001 with an impressive record of 51-0-1.
For Sánchez, the defeat effectively ended his run among the division’s elite. He remained a respected fighter but never regained the momentum he put into Madison Square Garden.
Almost three decades later, López’s victory over Sánchez remains one of the signature fights in the history of the minimumweight. He showed “El Finito” at the peak of his power and cemented his legacy as one of boxing’s few undefeated champions.
