Ruben Eduardo Aguilar formally introduced himself to the welterweight division tonight.
Aguilar, an unbeaten welterweight from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, earned a ninth-round technical stoppage over Louie Lopez, of Corona, California, in the main event of the ProBox TV card at College Park Center in the University of Texas at Arlington.
The time of the stoppage was 10 seconds of the ninth round.
Aguilar, 25, set the tone by attacking his opponent’s body and head. Lopez refused to give up ground in the opening round, continuing to pressure.
Lopez, 29, entered Friday unbeaten over his past six fights and having drawn three times during that span. He has had a hard road since Thompson Boxing ended its operations in 2023, often taking 50-50 type fights without the backing of a promoter. But in Arlington, Lopez showed an early enthusiasm and will to win that troubled Aguilar.
In the second round, Aguilar landed a right uppercut that sent Lopez to the canvas. Lopez sought to weather the storm, as Aguilar’s aggression continued into the following round.
Aguilar opened a cut over the left eye of Lopez in the fourth round. Between the cut and the power of Aguilar, Lopez had a lot of problems. Aguilar did Lopez no favors as he fought calculatedly, landing damaging body shots on Lopez.
In the seventh, Lopez had some success punching with Aguilar, but the power of Aguilar was the difference maker. Aguilar continued to target Lopez’s body at the end of Round 8, as Lopez’s punch output dimmed. Aguilar appeared to catch Lopez’s attention with a body shot toward the end of the round. Lopez trainer Henry Ramirez called a halt to the bout between the eighth and ninth rounds.
Aguilar improved to 24-0-1 (21 KOs) and earned the most impressive victory of his career.
Lopez saw his record slip to 16-3-4 (5 KOs).
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
