By Rick Reeno

Staples Center, Los Angeles - Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18KOs) shocked the odds by moving up in weight and stopping Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22KOs) in nine rounds of action. After nine rounds of war, Ortiz suffered a broken jaw and could not continue.

Lopez wins the vacant WBC silver welterweight championship and destroys a planned September 15th pay-per-view fight between Ortiz and WBC 154-pound champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

In the first round, Lopez did well to earn Ortiz's respect with several punches that landed right on the bigger man's chin. During the second, they were trading but the shots of Ortiz were doing far more damage. Near the final minute of the round, Lopez stunned Ortiz with a great right hand on the button. In the third, they both had their moments with hard punches, but Lopez appeared to get off better. At the start of the fourth, Lopez's left eye was swelling up bad.

As they were trading in the fifth, Ortiz was pushing Lopez down and hit him with a direct blow to the back of his head. Lopez was allowed several minutes to recover and Ortiz was given a very strict warning from the referee. When the action resumed, the punches were flying from every corner. After an even sixth, Lopez dominated the action in the seventh with combinations and accurate punches. He had Ortiz on the run for the second half of the round.

Ortiz had the edge in eight, but his face was swelling up and Looez was not going away. At the end of the ninth, Ortiz was coming on strong and then Lopez exploded with both hands to once again have Ortiz on the run.

Before the start of the tenth round, the fight wa stopped by the Ortiz corner and Lopez was signaled as the winner by the referee. It appeared that Ortiz suffered a broken jaw.