Lopez Outlasts Alvarez to Win WBA Crown on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Las Vegas Hilton.

LAS VEGAS--(BW SportsWire)--Nov. 13, 1998--WBC Minimumweight Champion Ricardo "Finito" Lopez scored the biggest win of his career by posting a split-decision victory over arch-rival and former world champion Rosendo Alvarez, and captured the WBA crown on Showtime.

For 12 seesaw rounds, Lopez and Alvarez exchanged blows, with Lopez getting the better of the two in the end. The bout aired on Showtime Championship Boxing, Friday, Nov. 13, at 10 p.m. ET/PT from the Las Vegas Hilton.

This card was originally promoted by Don King Productions Inc. in association with the Las Vegas Hilton.

The fight card originally included WBC/WBA Women's Lightweight Champion Christy Martin facing undefeated Sumya Anani. The bout was canceled Friday afternoon due to a contract dispute.

In a rematch pitting two of boxing's best punchers, Lopez (47-0-1, 35 KOs) from Mexico City, was cut above his right eye and under both eyes during the bout but still had the determination and skill to prevail.

Showing the heart of a champion, Lopez captured the final two rounds on two of the three judges' scorecards. Judge Larry O'Connell saw the bout 116-114 for Lopez, Jerry Roth had it scored 116-112 for Lopez, and Judge Silvestre Abainza tallied it 115-113 in favor of Alvarez (24-1-1, 16 KOs), from Managua, Nicaragua.

The two warriors fought to a technical draw in their first bout on March 7 in Mexico City after referee Arthur Mercante Sr. stopped the contest following an accidental head butt in the seventh round.

The Lopez-Alvarez main event was also in grave jeopardy earlier in the day. On Thursday, with both fighters needing to weigh in at the championship limit of 105 pounds, WBC Champ Lopez weighed in at 103-1/2 and WBA Champ Alvarez tipped the scales at 108-1/4, 3-1/4 pounds above the limit. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) ruled that the 3-1/4 pounds was too much weight for Alvarez to lose prior to fight time, thus Alvarez surrendered his title on the scale.

In order to prevent Alvarez from having an unfair weight advantage, NSAC also ruled that both fighters had to weigh in on Friday afternoon at 115 pounds or less for the fight to take place. In this second weigh-in, Alvarez weighed in at 114, while Lopez weighed 112 pounds.

Showtime Championship Boxing's Steve Albert, "Fight Doctor" Ferdie Pacheco and former world champion Bobby Czyz called the action from ringside, and Jim Gray served as roving reporter. The executive producer of the Showtime telecast was Jay Larkin, with Victor Gonzalez producing and Bob Dunphy directing.