As an amateur he represented Mexico at the 1984 Olympics, winning a silver medal in the bantamweight division.

[3] That fight would set up a bout with the undefeated Mexican Miguel Ángel González for the WBC Lightweight Championship in 1993.

[4] López lost a twelve-round unanimous decision and decided on moving up to Light Welterweight, losing to a young Kostya Tszyu in 1994.

He later challenged Sammy Fuentes and Randall Bailey for the WBO World Light Welterweight Title but lost both bouts.

He grew up and trained with Mexican American Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzales.