December sixth is a big day for most hardcore boxing fans, and for fans who love big name boxers.
It’s the day Golden Boy and Pac-man meet in the ring, but what they’re not expecting is the exciting under-card.
The co-main event features Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Sergio Manual Medina for the WBO Super Bantamweight Title.
Juan Lopez, alias “Juanma," will be making the second defense of the title. With an unbeaten record of 23 wins (21KO), which puts his knockout percent at 91.3, there is no shortage of proof that the little man can hang with the big boys!
Juanma has only gone the distance twice, and both times were in 2006.
He’s knocked-out his last 13 opponents and over half of them were within the first six rounds. Lopez has stated that he views Sergio Medina as a speed bump, someone he had to run into, and shows his feelings by barely acknowledging the fight in press conferences and interviews.
“I’m looking for my next opponent and I have two in mind,” Juan Lopez said.
The two he’s speaking of are: Junior Featherweight champion Israel Vazquez, and Rafael Marquez, two top names in boxing today known for their epic Trilogy that made it into the Hall of Fame this year.
Like every boxer, Juanma wants the big fights that can bring him big money, but unfortunately in the lighter divisions the big names that make the money are the guys who pose threats.
Opponent Breakdowns
Israel Vasquez (43-4)
Loves to stand toe-to-toe, has good boxing skills and a very fast paste. He poses punching power that matches up with the best of which is why he's the champ.
Rafael Marquez (37-5)
He essentially has a similar fighting style to Vasquez except for the impressive counter punching he possesses, like brother Juan Manuel Marquez.
I feel that the motive to fight these two fighters would come from the rivalry between Puerto-Rican and Mexican fighters.
I found no records of him calling out Celestino Caballero (31-2) who is ranked number two in the division and just recently won in a powerful showing with a fourth round KO in a fight he completely dominated.
But, what Juan Manuel Lopez may be doing is looking over the opponent that is focusing on him.
Sergio Manuel Medina is an experienced fighter who may not be ranked in the top five fighters alongside the names I mentioned, but he is a veteran boxer with a record of 33 wins (18KO) and one loss.
Coming out of Argentina, Sergio Medina is called by the alias “Rocky” and with 203 rounds fought he can cause difficulty for any fighter. You should never overlook an opponent and on December sixth, Sergio Medina hopes to show why.
3 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Raphael Canutto 7 months ago
Cocky up and coming recent champs have a tendancy to fall flat on their faces inside and/or outside the ring. This "Juanma" guy will be no different. There is no such thing as a humble Puerto Rican anyway, which is something I have read several times about this guy. There is no humility in overlooking your next opponent and starting plans to fight two high caliber fighters whom are at a way higher league than mr. "juanma."
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Nathan Aguilar 7 months ago
I agree, when your looking for the next guy your never see the fist of the guy standing in front of you. I'm a big fan of Marquez and Vasquez and agree there on a higher level then Juanma. There proven warriors and I'm sure if Juanma wants to take that route both guys will fight him no problem.
Thanks, for the response.
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Raphael Canutto 7 months ago
What was that all about??? What I saw last night was not a fight between Juan Manuel Lopez and Sergio Medina! That was a total surrender from Medina!!! His corner should have thrown in the towel as soon as the bell rang to initiate the first round! What shameful behaviour on behalf of Medina!
As much as has been said about Lopez, there was nothing which we the fans were able to see from this so-called "next Puerto Rican phenom." I did not see one significant punch which could have possibly resulted in Medina going down once, let alone three times, in the first round. This had the look of a "pay-for-lay;" that is, Lopez' camp might have simply "paid off" Medina's camp for him to "lay down" at the onset of the fight.
Results like this should be investigated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. But, given that no one got hurt - or that all appropriate entities got paid off accordingly - I seriously doubt anyone will make the effort to investigate this farce of a fight. This was a "black eye" for boxing!
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