Juan Manuel Lopez: Orlando Salido is a tough opponent but I have worked hard this time – Boxing news
Juan Manuel Lopez, the former WBO featherweight champion, while praising his upcoming opponent Orlando Salido, the current WBO featherweight champion, said that Salido is definitely a tough pugilist and one cannot beat him by average boxing tactics, adding
that he has strived hard to prepare for this bout especially after the first unsuccessful encounter.
Juan and Orlando will collide in an epic battle on March 10, 2012 and will headline the pay-per-view jointly organised and promoted by Fernando Beltran of Promociones Zanfer, Puerto Rico Best Boxing’s Ivan Rivera, and the renowned Top Rank’s executive Bob
Arum. The 12-round bout will have Orlando’s gold on the line.
This will be the second time that both men will stand against each other. On April 16, 2011, Juan and Salido entered the ring for a 12-round brawl. At that time the title was in Juan’s possession and he was confident of defending it. But things did not go
well and Salido proved that he is the best by wrapping the things up in the eighth round.
After that bout, Lopez wholeheartedly admitted that Orlando outclassed him and his agility and footwork did not allow him to retain the title. After that devastating experience Juan took on just one opponent Mike Oliver and nailed him in the second round.
Salido, afterwards, convincingly nailed two men Weng Haya, and Kenichi Yamaguchi both via knockout. On Saturday night both men will enter Coliseo Roberto Clemente arena situated in San Juan, Puerto Rico and will put up a great show of valour, impressive
pugilism, and astounding resilience.
Lopez in a recent interview thanked Orlando for being his guest one more time. Juan, commented, “I want to thank Salido for coming back to Puerto Rico and giving me this opportunity. I knew Salido was a tough fighter, and he came prepared and beat me, and
I offered no excuses. You have to be smart and use your boxing skills — that is the only way to beat Salido. I learned that in our first fight.”
Salido on the other hand just uttered a one-liner and said, “I want to show that my first win was not a fluke. He is going to feel that he (Orlando) is the better and stronger man and that he is not.”
Orlando will enter in his career’s 52nd battle and has come out victorious in a total 37 bouts. He has collected a whopping 25 wins by knockout. Lopez, on the other hand, has entered a total 32 bouts and came out victorious in 31. He has collected 28 of
his wins by knockout.
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