SEAN O'GRADY: The Real Deal or Smoke and Mirrors?
When Sean O’Grady arrived in professional boxing in 1974 at the age of 16, he instantly became a boxer of interest. Good-looking, personable, articulate, able to both box and punch, O’Grady attracted attention from both diehard and casual boxing fans. Twenty-six wins later, with 22 of the victories coming by way of knockout, O’Grady had graduated to phenom status.
What most boxing fans overlooked, ignored, or just didn’t understand was that O’Grady’s 26 opponents had a collective record of 38 wins, 90 losses, and 7 draws. That said, even skeptics had to give the baby-faced, bubblegum chewing O’Grady credit, considering he was a first-year pro and a boy fighting men. O’Grady’s supporters rightly said “Hey, the kid’s learning how to fight. Give him a break!”
The following year, O’Grady, now the ripe old age of 17 fought three more hand-picked sacrificial lambs and predictably knocked out all three in a total of four rounds. Then O’Grady’s management team upped the stakes and matched the Bubblegum Kid against Danny “Little Red” Lopez. Lopez came into the bout with a record of 27-3-0, with 26 stoppages. On paper, it must have seemed like a great paring. Two outstanding, young fighters putting it on the line as their careers progressed.
The difference was that the 24-year-old Lopez had compiled his record over 5 years against much better competition. What might have lured O’Grady’s people into overconfidence (besides money) was the fact that Lopez had gone only 5-3 in his last eight fights and was stopped twice. However, a closer look at Lopez’ record showed the losses were to a prime Bobby Chacon, a near prime Shig Fukuyama, and an admittedly past prime Octavio Gomez.
O’Grady’s last three fights before Little Red were against 0-1-0 Shannon Williams, 0-1-0 Ken Conners, and 0-0-0 Luis Martinez. Lopez? His last three fights were against 25-15-6 Raul Cruz, 7-4-1 Antonio Nava and an ancient Ruben Olivares, 80-6-1 (who would still go on and beat Ricky Gutierrez, Shig Fukuyama, and Jose Luis Ramirez).
O’Grady was 17 and Lopez was 24, a boy against a mature man. The outcome of the O’Grady vs. Lopez fight should have been no surprise to those at ringside. O’Grady, ever courageous, hung in as best he could, but took a bad enough beating that Pat O’Grady, Sean’s dad, who was working in his corner, halted the bout after four rounds. O’Grady started out jabbing and moving and won the first round, the second round looked even but the third round was all Lopez’. In the fourth round, O’Grady couldn’t shake the aggressive Lopez, who pounded O’Grady’s long, thin torso with body shots. O’Grady also barely survived some wicked combinations at the end of the fourth, prompting dad to keep his son on the stool before the fifth round began.
The difference was that the 24-year-old Lopez had compiled his record over 5 years against much better competition. What might have lured O’Grady’s people into overconfidence (besides money) was the fact that Lopez had gone only 5-3 in his last eight fights and was stopped twice. However, a closer look at Lopez’ record showed the losses were to a prime Bobby Chacon, a near prime Shig Fukuyama, and an admittedly past prime Octavio Gomez.
When Sean O’Grady arrived in professional boxing in 1974 at the age of 16, he instantly became a boxer of interest. Good-looking, personable, articulate, able to both box and punch, O’Grady attracted attention from both diehard and casual boxing fans. Twenty-six wins later, with 22 of the victories coming by way of knockout, O’Grady had graduated to phenom status.
What most boxing fans overlooked, ignored, or just didn’t understand was that O’Grady’s 26 opponents had a collective record of 38 wins, 90 losses, and 7 draws. That said, even skeptics had to give the baby-faced, bubblegum chewing O’Grady credit, considering he was a first-year pro and a boy fighting men. O’Grady’s supporters rightly said “Hey, the kid’s learning how to fight. Give him a break!”
The following year, O’Grady, now the ripe old age of 17 fought three more hand-picked sacrificial lambs and predictably knocked out all three in a total of four rounds. Then O’Grady’s management team upped the stakes and matched the Bubblegum Kid against Danny “Little Red” Lopez. Lopez came into the bout with a record of 27-3-0, with 26 stoppages. On paper, it must have seemed like a great paring. Two outstanding, young fighters putting it on the line as their careers progressed.
The difference was that the 24-year-old Lopez had compiled his record over 5 years against much better competition. What might have lured O’Grady’s people into overconfidence (besides money) was the fact that Lopez had gone only 5-3 in his last eight fights and was stopped twice. However, a closer look at Lopez’ record showed the losses were to a prime Bobby Chacon, a near prime Shig Fukuyama, and an admittedly past prime Octavio Gomez.
O’Grady’s last three fights before Little Red were against 0-1-0 Shannon Williams, 0-1-0 Ken Conners, and 0-0-0 Luis Martinez. Lopez? His last three fights were against 25-15-6 Raul Cruz, 7-4-1 Antonio Nava and an ancient Ruben Olivares, 80-6-1 (who would still go on and beat Ricky Gutierrez, Shig Fukuyama, and Jose Luis Ramirez).
O’Grady was 17 and Lopez was 24, a boy against a mature man. The outcome of the O’Grady vs. Lopez fight should have been no surprise to those at ringside. O’Grady, ever courageous, hung in as best he could, but took a bad enough beating that Pat O’Grady, Sean’s dad, who was working in his corner, halted the bout after four rounds. O’Grady started out jabbing and moving and won the first round, the second round looked even but the third round was all Lopez’. In the fourth round, O’Grady couldn’t shake the aggressive Lopez, who pounded O’Grady’s long, thin torso with body shots. O’Grady also barely survived some wicked combinations at the end of the fourth, prompting dad to keep his son on the stool before the fifth round began.
