With the recent controversy surrounding the sport of boxing stemming from Timothy Bradley’s robbery of Manny Pacquiao, some fight fans swore they would never watch the sweet science again.

Good riddance!

If anyone happened to miss Showtime’s excellent fight card featuring Victor Ortiz vs. Joesita Lopez and Humberto Soto vs. Lucas Matthysse, they missed out on one of the most entertaining boxing cards in months.

Coming into the night many analysts predicted Soto vs. Matthysse would steal the show and become a top candidate for fight of the year. Those same analysts predicted Ortiz would easily walk through Lopez.

Folks, this is why we love boxing. We never know what we’re going to see!

Soto vs. Matthysse was a great fight and lived up to the hype while it lasted. However, it didn’t take Matthysse long to win the fight. The Argentinian knocked Soto down for the first time in his professional boxing career at the bell to close out the 5th round. Referee Raul Caiz Sr. allowed Soto to take his stool and prepare for the next round but his corner, recognizing their fighter was dazed and confused, wisely called a halt to the bout.

Soto fought hard and had the perfect game plan for beating his opponent. Matthysse also had a great game plan and worked it to perfection against the older fighter. In the end it was his body punching that ultimately made the difference. Although the fight only went five rounds, Matthysse’s body blows left Soto exhausted and led to him quitting on his stool before the start of the sixth round.

Props to both Soto and Matthysse for fighting their hearts out and giving the fans exactly what they wanted to see.

Next up for Matthysse could be a huge payday against Amir Khan. King Khan’s questionable chin and Matthysse’s amazing punching power would make for a very intriguing matchup. Of course Khan has to get through Danny Garcia on July 14th first.

As entertaining as the undercard bout was it couldn’t compete with the fireworks fans were treated to in the main event. Entering the ring Joseito Lopez was widely unknown by the boxing world and considered a huge underdog against Ortiz. After all, Lopez was a late replacement opponent who was forced to move up from light welterweight to welterweight just to get his shot against Ortiz.

It’s safe to assume he’s no longer an unknown and he’ll never be overlooked by another opponent ever again.

Just minutes into the fight everyone knew Lopez wasn’t a pushover. He came to fight and he came to win. And that’s exactly what he did.

The 27-year-old Lopez fought his heart out and rocked Victor Ortiz on numerous occasions throughout the fight. The two fighters traded power punch after power punch and treated fans to what could be considered a viable fight of the year candidate.

Following nine action-packed rounds of boxing, Victor Ortiz shocked the world by quitting on his stool before the tenth round. Just seconds later we learned Joseito Lopez actually broke Victor Ortiz’s jaw at the beginning of the ninth round. Given Ortiz’s history, fans were skeptic and wondered if he had actually suffered the injury or if he just didn’t want to fight anymore.

For what it’s worth, Ortiz’s jaw did appear to be legitimately broken as he clearly struggled to talk after the match. Nevertheless, Lopez fought the fight of his life and pulled off one of the biggest boxing upsets in years.

All the credit in the world should go to Lopez. Hardly anybody expected him to even compete with Ortiz, let alone win the fight. Who knows who he’ll fight next but we certainly hope he takes a rematch as soon as Ortiz’s jaw is healed. Is there anyone in the world who wouldn’t want to see these two slug it out again?

Canelo Alvarez, who was already scheduled to fight Ortiz if he would have beaten Lopez, may be the only person who was left disappointed following these two fights. Once again he’ll have to go back to the drawing board in hopes of finding a new opponent. He’ll likely have to face someone who isn’t well-known by mainstream boxing fans but as we witnessed tonight, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re in for a one-sided bout.

Following two amazing fights, we can’t even begin to imagine how much it must suck to be those fans who swore off boxing after watching Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley.