Juan Manuel Lopez v Rafael Marquez
Only one word can sum up the potential of tomorrow night’s WBO featherweight clash between Juan Manuel Lopez v Rafael Marquez; humdinger.
These two warriors don’t know the meaning of the word “decision”. It’s rare to see either one go the distance, and in fact of their combined 73 fights only nine have seen it through to the final bell.
The talent of these two fighters is only surpassed by their bravery and this should truly be a feast for the eyeballs for boxing fans worldwide. In Lopez you have a possible multi-weight champion and a potential Manny Pacquiao successor in that he can also move up the divisions snatching world title belts as goes. He absolutely destroyed the highly rated Bernabe Conception inside two rounds in his last outing four months ago, cementing his place as one of the pound-for-pound best in the world.
“Juanma” has a plethora of weapons in his arsenal. The southpaw has a vicious left straight as Conception will testify. His heavy fists are up there with anyone out there right now as his 26 KO’s in 29 unbeaten fights prove. On top of that he has fantastic
head-movement and when he gets going the Puerto Rican can be untouchable.
In Marquez, though, Lopez faces his biggest challenge yet. The Mexican has consistently been one of the most exciting fighters to watch since his debut and guarantees value for money every time he steps in the ring. Of course he is famed for his four wars with Israel Vazquez where the pair took each other to the brink every time before eventually sharing the spoils with two wins each.
In the simplest form Marquez loves combat. He is a well rounded fighter that can work on the outside or scrap on the inside and fears nothing. He has suffered five defeats in his career including on his debut, and in the second and third fights of the Vazquez series, but still he boasts 39 wins under his belt, 35 by KO.
There is no doubt that this is going to be utter carnage. It’s hard to see a favourite on paper; at best you can say Lopez has a c***k in his armour, in that he can often attack too much and leave himself open. A good example of this was in the Conception fight when he got dropped by a flash-knockout just before the bell for the second round. This came despite the Filipino doing nothing the whole fight, and had it come a bit earlier Juanma could have been in serious trouble.
You could probably argue the same thing about the Marquez, who goes all out every single time, however with more experience under his belt he is less likely to leave himself open and more likely to be able to take the big shots.
It is sure to be a proper fire and brimstone affair, where grit and brutality will prevail in force. It’s going to come down to which one of these two is the tougher in this titanium tear-up.
Tonight might be fireworks night but tomorrow there will be real explosions.
Prediction: Marquez 9th- 12th round KO
This is an impossibly hard fight to call; both fighters are basically made out of granite. It should be all action from the word go and a knockout blow could be delivered at any point, such is the ferocity these two gladiators fight at.
Lopez still isn’t all there defensively, that’s not to say Marquez is more so but he has been in more wars and has more experience against a higher calibre of opponent. His chin should hold up better, by that reckoning he could snatch this with a surprise knockout blow and take Lopez’s unbeaten record with him. However, much will depend on who gets their jab going early and dictates the pace and flow of the battle.
Tags: