Kris Lopez always believed his welterweight son David could be destined for the top, and now he is starting to fulfill that potential.
His son, David (6-0, 4 KOs), 20, is signed to DiBella Entertainment, after a short stint at Mayweather Promotions, and is being lauded as one of the top young fighters in the sport.
His father, Kris, a gym owner of Lightning’s Boxing Gym in Oakland, California, a facility named after his old ring moniker, was an evangelical for his son for years. Going on social media platforms, propelling his son up. Lopez explains that was all part of the plan.
“I am a great manifester of things,” Lopez said. “No one believes it until it’s right in front of their face. It’s just a dream until it’s no longer just a dream – it’s a reality.”
From the beginning, Kris explained training his son felt different.
“It felt like he was the real thing,” Kris said.
But as David’s career progressed, Kris recognized the importance of stepping back, allowing professional promoters and managers to take the reins. “Now, David has to execute. We got him here. We did our part. Now, it’s on him.”
You can only do so much, at the end of the day the fighter fights the fights, but also his father has had to learn another lesson – let their son make his way in the world, which sometimes doesn’t include them every step of the way. His once vocal online antics now refrained – he is just an observant coach and father, casting a loving and watchful eye over David, the prodigious young talent who is slowly evolving into the man navigating the complexities of life and boxing. As Kris has a front-row seat to not just watching a young prospect grow up in front of him, but also watching his son become a man.
“He’s like a little grown man now,” Kris said, acknowledging the changes in their father-son dynamic. “He’s got grown man desires, but the one thing that’s intact is his aspiration to take his talents as far as they can go.”
As David steps into the spotlight, Kris is eager for him to be recognized as just that – his own man. Not the famous faces that people have seen him next to. It doesn’t seem to bother David, but Kris seems to yearn for David to be respected. For Kris, the journey has been about more than just winning. It’s about letting David’s story unfold, even if it means letting him navigate the tough challenges ahead – which might not just be a coach thing – that might be a father thing.
“All the talking isn’t going to save you in the ring,” Kris said. “You have to do the work day in and day out, and David is ready to do just that, and is doing that. ”
Now, David looks to fill into the role promised off of him from the Oakland gym scene dating back over a decade. He beat the best guys of his era in the amateurs, Xavier Bocanegra, Justin Villoria, and then he took a hiatus – and now he is bubbling under the surface ready for his grand arrival.
“He has a chance and that is all you can ask for,” Kris said.
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