Berto (30-3, 23 KOs),who hails from Miami Florida knocked out Lopez at 1:03 of the sixth round for his second win after losing to Robert Guerrero in 2012 and to Jesús Soto Karass in 2013,
Berto started slow in the first round and could not find his range in the next two rounds as Lopez pile up more points to dominate the first three rounds.
Berto finally found his range in the fifth round when he landed some solid shots but were not enough to surmount the points gained by Lopez in the first four rounds.
Right after the start of sixth round, Berto landed a big right that send Lopez to the canvas but was able to beat the referee’s count. Then Berto followed up with another power right sending Lopez to the canvas for the second time and the final count.
With the win, Berto is expected to take the center stage again for another crack at a major world in the division where Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather dominate as the top two fighters in the 147 pound limit.
In 2010, Berto became an imminent Pacquiao contender when he held the WBC welterweight title and Pacquiao was running out of worthy opponents. But the match did not materialized as Berto lost his title to Victor Ortiz in 2011.
“I know I was in his backyard and I wanted to bring heat to him,” said Berto after the fight. “Everybody knows Josesito is a competitor. I knew he could hurt me so I just wanted to try and break him down a little bit. I think I proved tonight that I am back in the mix,” he added.
