[Crimson]

Saturday, September 26th, 1992
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino; Las Vegas, NV
Todd Foster 24-1 (21) Montana WBO
vs.
Tony Lopez 45-3-1 (28) California WBC
- Seating 16,200 people, the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino was jam packed with boxing fans from a wide variety of social and economic backgrounds. Politicians, famous actors and actresses, along with successful businessman filled most of the first 5 ringside rows. The rest of the facility was filled with boxing fans from a wide variety of backgrounds, but with the common interest of wanting to see a good fight. Bob Arum promised that they would be getting plenty of that at the MGM Grand on 9-19-92, and the vast majority were in agreement.
- Larry Merchant and Jim Lamphley called the fight for HBO.
- Tony Lopez was a 5-2 favorite.
- Despite making weight on his first attempt, Foster was battling the scales in the days leading up to the fight. He looked gaunt and drained at the weigh-in.
- The 3 judges were from Nevada, California, Puerto Rico; the referee was Vic Drakulich of Nevada.
- Once again Tony Lopez was seen out and about during the late hours of the night, in the weeks leading up to the fight.
- (Punches landed each round are in parentheses, with the name of the fighter who landed the most listed.)

- RD 1: Foster couldn’t miss with his hook and he blasted Lopez with it repeatedly. (Foster 36-6)
- RD 2: Bell to bell action, with Tony Lopez getting right in Foster’s face. (Lopez 24-21)
- RD 3: The aggression of Lopez was starting to take effect on Foster, who was unable to keep the 5’6” California dynamo off him. (Lopez 36-7)
- RD 4: Lopez continued to be aggressive and walked directly into a scorching Foster right hand that put him on the canvas in a delayed reaction. When he rose at the count of 5, Lopez was badly hurt! (Foster 28-0)
- RD 5: After 4 rounds Ringside Expert Rocco Del Sesto had Foster in front by 1 point, 38-37. A still hurt Lopez moved, grabbed, and did anything that was necessary to stall for time until he had his legs back. Foster became more aggressive, but was unable to get through the Lopez guard. (Lopez 6-1)
- RD 6: A good action round with many exchanges. Both fighters returned to their corner exhausted. (Endurance levels: Foster-2; Lopez-0) (Foster 28-24)
- RD 7: A Foster hook opened up a cut over the right eye of Lopez. The referee gave Lopez his third warning of the fight for fouling. This time for leaning on the neck of Foster. A winging Foster right hand snapped back the head of Lopez. Scoring the fight for HBO PPV was Harold Lederman, who had Foster ahead by 3 points, 68-65.(Foster 36-18)
- RD 8: Trainer Jesse Reid instructed Foster to sit down on his punches and drill Lopez. Cutman Jimmy Montoya did a fantastic job of closing Lopez’ cut. Lopez was doing some of his best work thus far in the fight when Foster opened up and forced the Sacramento native to taste the canvas again. Up quickly at the count of 4, the wobbly legged Lopez was soon sent back down. He struggled mightily to rise and just did so at the count of 8. (Lopez 36-21)
- RD 9: After losing the last round 10-7 on the cards due to going down twice, Lopez knew that he’d have to pull out his best imitation of “Rocky” were he to come back and win. Foster quickly blasted Lopez to the canvas with a right hand, but the game Lopez got up for more and motioned for Foster to bring it on with a smile on his face! Lopez refused to tie Foster up, but did little offensively and was becoming a human punching bag. Somehow he made it to the bell. (Foster 48-6)
- RD 10: Lopez needed a miracle to pull out this fight. “The Tiger” shifted his attack to the body and landed, causing obvious discomfort to Foster. A Foster hook reopened the Lopez cut and with blood streaming down his face, Lopez was brought to the ringside doctor. After about 20 seconds it was determined that Lopez could continue. Lopez did not waste the opportunity and tore into Foster, blasting him with both hands. Foster was hurt! The killer instinct of Lopez kicked in and an uppercut put Foster down!! Up at “3” Foster was on rubber legs. After Foster started to go down again from a Lopez hook, the referee caught him and stopped the fight at 2:30 of the 10th round!
- AMAZING!!! Tony Lopez is proving himself to be a real life Rocky Balboa! His last fight with Miguel Angel Gonzalez was a fight of the year candidate. This fight is going to be a candidate for fight of the decade!
- Foster had been well ahead on the scorecard of all 3 judges: 87-81, 88-90, and 89-79.
- Foster and his camp announced after the fight that he would be moving up to the Jr. Welter weight division. The struggle to make weight had weakened him severely going into the fight.
Tony Lopez TKO10 Todd Foster (wins WBO and defends WBC title)