24 Facts About Ernie Lopez

Ernie "Indian Red" Lopez was an American professional boxer.

Ernie Lopez twice fought for the world welterweight boxing title, losing title bouts to Jose Napoles in 1970 and 1973.

Ernie Lopez was a missing person from 1992 to 2004 and was the subject of extensive press coverage in early 2004 when, after being selected for induction into the California Boxing Hall of Fame, he was found at a homeless shelter in Fort Worth, Texas.

Ernie Lopez's mother was a Ute Indian, and his father claimed to be Juaneno, although there is no federal or state recognition for any Juaneno group.

Ernie Lopez began boxing at a very early age, being trained in grade school by Stan Chenoweth of Orem, Utah in his basement gym.

Ernie Lopez attended Orem High School in Orem, where he chose boxing over football.

Ernie Lopez married as a teenager and moved to Pasadena, California, where he boxed out of the Pasadena YMCA.

Ernie Lopez became a popular boxer in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and early 1970s, fighting out of the Los Angeles Main Street Gym for much of his career.

Ernie Lopez was given the nickname "Indian Red" because of his flaming red hair and Native American heritage.

In 1968, when Ernie Lopez became the first Native American boxer to be ranked as the No 1 contender in any weight class, Pulitzer Prize winning sports writer Jim Murray wrote:.

In 1967, Ernie Lopez wore an Indian chief's headdress into the ring in a match against Musahi Nakano in Japan.

Ernie Lopez won the first bout in a ninth-round knockout, which the Los Angeles Times described as follows:.

On February 14,1970, Ernie Lopez got a shot at the world welterweight boxing title in a bout against Cuban Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles in front of a sellout crowd at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

Ernie Lopez was knocked down in the 1st, 9th, and 15th rounds before the bout was called as a technical knockout in the 15th round.

Ernie Lopez had reportedly won the first six rounds, and Napoles had cuts above and below his eye and on the bridge of his nose.

Reports indicate that Ernie Lopez's life went into a tailspin after the 1973 loss to Napoles.

Ernie Lopez fought two more bouts and lost both in technical knockouts.

Ernie Lopez was divorced from his wife and took to a life of wandering.

For twelve years from 1992 through 2004, Ernie Lopez was out of touch with his family and was considered a missing person.

Ernie Lopez gave up all of his possessions and then went out in the world like a person wandering.

In early 2004, Ernie Lopez was selected for induction into the California Boxing Hall of Fame.

In February 2004, Ernie Lopez was discovered living in a homeless shelter in Fort Worth, Texas.

Ernie Lopez's story became the subject of multiple newspaper and television stories, with reporters and television camera crews coming to the homeless shelter to interview him.

On October 3,2009, Ernie Lopez died in Pleasant Grove, Utah from complications of dementia at age 64.