Written by Eric Armit
Ernie 'Indian Red' Lopez
Born: 23 September 1945 at Fort Duchesne, Utah.
Died: 3 October 2009 in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Record: 61 fights, 49 wins (25 by KO/TKO), 11 losses, 1 draw.
Tured Pro: June 1963.
The final battle: October 1974.
Weight class: Welterweight
Beat: Armand Lourenco (twice), Pulga Serrano, Al Andrews, Johnny Brooks (three times), Jose Stable*, Tito Marshall, Musashi Nakano, Gabe Terronez, Hedgemon Lewis (twice), Raul Soriano, Chucho Garcia, Manuel Avitia, Ruben Rivera, Peter Cobblah, Manuel Fierro, Oscar Abalardo**, Sal Martinez, Manuel Gonzalez*,
Lost in: Don Minor, Johnny Brooks, Adolph Pruitt*, Raul Soriano, Hedgeman Lewis, Jose Napoles (twice)**, Emile Griffith (twice)**, Armando Muniz*, John H Stracey**.
Drew with: Armand Lourenço
** Masters of the World
*Contenders for the world title
Lopez's work
-1963/64 He won his first ten fights and in December 1964 he was nominated by Don Minor for the North American welterweight title.
-1965 Was 3-0-1 drawing and then striking out Armand Laouenco
-1966 Ten fights and 8-2 went 2-1 in fights with Johnny Brooks, defeating Jose Stable and Tito Marshall but losing to Adolph Pruitt.
-1967 Won all 9 of his fights over Benito Juarez, Johnny Brooks, Musashi Nakano and Doug McLeod.
-1968 Went 6-0 with wins over Raul Soriano and Gabe Terronez and stopped Hedgemon Lewis 22-0 in nine rounds.
-1969 Was 4-1 Stopped Serrano and knocked out Chucho Garcia then lost on points to Hedgemon Lewis in July and stopped Lewis in the tenth round in October.
In 1970 in February he was beaten three times and defeated by Jose Napoles in a challenge for the WBA and WBC titles. They beat Manuel Avitia, Ruben Rivera and Cipriano Hernandez.
1971 Lost a majority decision to Emile Griffith. He scored Peter Cobblah, Danny Perez, Miguel Fierro and WBA/WBC light middleweight champion Oscar Albarado.
1972 And lost a close decision to Emile Griffith. He got points from Sal Martinez, Manuel Gonzalez and Jose Luis Baltazar.
In 1973, February was knocked out in the seventh round by Jose Napoles in a comeback fight for the WBA and WBC titles. It was a tough knock with Lopez out almost. three minutes. Lopez returned in July but was stunned by Armando Muniz and retired at the end of the seventh round.
-1974 Lopez was stopped by John H Stracey in seven rounds Lopez was cut over both eyes. Lopez retired after the Stracey fight.
The Life Story of Ernie Lopez
Ernie Lopez was born on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Fort Duchesne, Utah. His mother was a Ute Indian and his father was of another Indian tribe, Lopez being the third of their eight children.
His father taught him boxing, and he started boxing in high school. He and his older brothers, Leonard and Danny “Little Red” Lopez, moved to California and played for the YMCA team there.
Brother Danny would go on to win the WBC featherweight title. The nickname Indian Red came from Lopez's red hair and her Indian heritage. He was 21-1-1 in his first 23 fights but suffered back-to-back losses against Johnny Brooks and Adolph Pruitt.
He rebounded with ten wins in his next 11 fights losing only to Raul Soriano before defeating and stopping Hedgemon Lewis 22-0 in July 1968. He beat Soriano in his comeback but then lost on points to Lewis in July 1969 before stopping Lewis again again. in October.
That earned him a shot at the WBA and WBC welterweight titles. Unfortunately, the great Jose Napoles knocked down Lopez for the first, ninth and fifteenth times and the fight was stopped with twenty-two seconds left on the clock.
He rebounded by winning ten of his next twelve fights, with two losses coming against Emile Griffith, the first by majority decision and the second by unanimous decision but by very narrow margins.
Two victories later that year saw him return to Napoles in February 1973, in a fight that would change his life. Lopez was reportedly in the lead after six rounds, Napoles was cut under the eye and cut on the bridge of his nose.
In the seventh Napoles exploded with a painful punch that knocked Lopez unconscious for three minutes. The loss crushed Lopez's spirit and marital problems sent Lopez into a downward spiral.
He also fought twice but lost both fights by distance. He then slowly drifted away from friends and family, turning into strangers again before losing all contact with them for twelve years. He wandered from town to town and District to District and was finally considered a lost person.
When it was announced that Lopez would be inducted into the Californian Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004, his ex-wife and his children decided to try to establish once and for all whether he was alive or dead.
Eventually, he was tracked down with his Social Security number at the Presbyterian Night Shelter in Texas. Lopez's former promoter and President of the Californian Boxing Hall of Fame, Don Fraser, arranged for Lopez to fly to Los Angeles where he was reunited with his family, including his 23 grandchildren. Lopez was inducted into the Californian Boxing Hall of Fame and died on 3 October 2009 at the age of 64.
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