Good Sports: Smokin' Joe Lopez

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Boxing is a sport where two opponents duke it out in the ring with their fists. But every fighter, especially the good ones, will tell you footwork is the key to winning bouts.

For Fresno's Smokin' Joe Lopez, moving his feet and moving them well started out as a work in progress.

"Footwork and everything, coming from football. I was a running back and safety, so the footwork wasn't so hard. It was knowing the strategy behind the footwork," said Lopez. "But then everything else. Conserving your energy; the energy system's different from football. Learning to conserve yourself and go three minutes instead of 10 seconds every time. Five seconds every time was the hardest part."

Yes, you heard him right. Before he was known as Smokin' Joe, Lopez was a football player up until about four years ago. Injuries and other outside forces closed one door in his life. So he opened another door when he met trainer Bryan Williams and connected with the rest of the staff at Thrive Gym in Northwest Fresno.

Williams said, "How fast he gets it. And not only does he learn it here, as soon as he leaves here he goes home and he practices it. He wakes up the next morning, he practices it. He comes back the next day and says, 'Coach, I get it.' The fact that he wants to learn and he's doing whatever it takes to win."

For a guy who picked up boxing relatively late in his career, he naturally uses a football analogy to describe his early success.

"I equate it to being an undrafted rookie at the NFL. No one's giving you looks; you've got to get invited to camps," said Lopez. "And once you get there, you got to make an impact. And that's exactly what me and my team's done. We've been invited to a Mayweather camp, to Top Rank's camp in Las Vegas and we've gone there and proved ourselves."

The 30-year-old Lopez will look to go 4-0 at this month's "Fight for Water 3" event at Selland Arena. It'll be the second fight in Downtown Fresno come Oct. 25.

Lopez will be one of the undercard bouts for Avenal's Jose Ramirez, whose rise to stardom among top rank boxing has opened doors for other Valley fighters like Smokin' Joe.

"Jose's opened the doors for everyone in the Valley," said Lopez. "Going to the Olympics, making a name for himself, his years put into the sport. You know I really appreciate him and his team, putting me on his cards, from the beginning."

But Smokin' Joe Lopez and his team are looking to make a name for themselves in the ring as well. And until they get there, they'll enjoy the grind.