On November 16, 1996, a 23-year-old John Avila (23-2-1, 12 KOs) and Hector Lopez met in the ring in a super-lightweight bout.
Avila came in to the fight on a 3-fight win streak with a 46% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 month and 26 days.
John Avila lost to Hector Lopez via unanimous decision in the 12-round super-lightweight fight, and adds a loss to his record at 23-3-1.
On December 10, 1994, a 21-year-old John Avila (20-1-1, 11 KOs) got a shot at the lightweight WBO title held by 21-year-old Oscar De La Hoya (15-0, 14 KOs).
Avila came in to the fight on a 8-fight win streak with a 50% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 month. De La Hoya was on a 15-fight win streak with a 93% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 22 days.
Oscar De La Hoya stopped John Avila via TKO in the 9th round of the 12-round world-title fight, and successfully defended his WBO lightweight title. De La Hoya improves his record to 16-0 (15 KOs), while Avila adds a loss to his record at 20-2-1.
On May 2, 1992, a 19-year-old John Avila (2-0, 1 KO) and Abel Pedroza met in the ring.
Avila came in to the fight on a 2-fight win streak with a 50% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 22 days.
John Avila lost to Abel Pedroza via unanimous decision in the 4-round fight, and adds a loss to his record at 2-1.