 In 1998, he fought to a draw with undefeated reigning WBC champ and pound-for-pound ranked Ricardo Lopez, dropping Lopez for the first and only time in his career.The fight was stopped in the 8th round when Lopez suffered a cut from a clash of heads, resulting in a technical draw on the scorecards.A rematch was set for later in the year, however, the fight was in jeopardy of taking place as Alvarez failed to make weight by 3 1/4 pounds.