Marciano retired with a 49-0 record in 1955 after stopping Archie Moore in the ninth round of their heavyweight title fight. More than sixty years later, Mayweather surpassed that mark when he defeated Conor McGregor in August 2017 to improve his record to 50-0.
Lopez quietly finished his career with even more wins.
He built his reputation by dominating the bantamweight division throughout the 1990s, holding versions of the WBC, WBO and WBA titles before finally moving up in weight.
The only blemish on his record came in September 1998 when Lopez defended his WBC bantamweight title against Nicaragua’s Rosendo Álvarez in Mexico City. Alvarez knocked Lopez down in the second round, while Lopez later took advantage of a point deduction against his opponent for an accidental headbutt. The fight was stopped in the seventh round and settled to a technical draw.
Two months later, the rivals met again in Las Vegas. Lopez won a split decision in the rematch at the Hilton to keep his undefeated record intact.
After ruling the minimum weight division for years, Lopez moved up and captured the IBF light flyweight title in October 1999 by defeating Will Grigsby in Las Vegas to become a world champion in a second weight class.
Late in his career, Lopez remained as sharp as ever. In December 2000, he stopped Thailand’s Anucha Phothong in eight rounds at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to move to 50-0-1.
His last fight came the following year at Madison Square Garden, where he knocked out Zolani Petelo in eight rounds to finish his career with a 51-0-1 record.
In 2007, Lopez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in recognition of a career that spanned more than a decade at the top of the lighter weight classes.
Fifty-one wins, no losses, and dominance over two divisions. Few champions have left the sport with a record as complete as Ricardo “Finito” Lopez.
