Wayne McCullough reflects on a gutsy first defence for WBO featherweight champ Juan Manuel Lopez.
Unbeaten featherweight a new Puerto Rican hero
Juan Manuel Lopez was once considered to be the king of the super-bantamweight division, winning the WBO belt in June 2008 in a surprising first round KO over then-champion Daniel Ponce de Leon.
He made five successful defences of that belt but struggled in his last one back in October 2009 against Rogers Mtagwa where he barely made it through the final round. Weight-making may have been a factor so a move up was needed.
In his first fight at featherweight this past January, Lopez fought WBO champ Steve Luevano and won by stoppage in the seventh round to become a two-weight world champion.
He hasn't fought in his native Puerto Rico since April 2009 but that changed last weekend when he made the first defence of his new title in front of his hometown fans - against Filipino Bernabe Concepcion.
Coming into the fight with a record of 28 wins, three losses and one draw Concepcion was a top contender and had already fought for this same belt back in August 2009 when he lost on disqualification to Luevano for hitting after the bell. That fight was close up to the point of the stoppage so Concepcion was given another shot at the belt.
Orthodox
Five years younger than Lopez, Concepcion turned pro at 16 fighting in the flyweight division. He has a stance similar to that of fellow Filipino Manny Pacquiao, though he is an orthodox boxer. This higher weight division may suit him since it now looks like his body has fully developed into a compact featherweight's.
It seemed like it would be an easy first defence for Lopez when he hurt Concepcion early on with a left hand, and the Puerto Rican fans went wild. Lopez went for the finish and caught the challenger with a left hand, right hook combo that dropped him with only about 90 seconds left in the round.
Lopez moved in, pinning Concepcion on the ropes and landing shots while the referee stayed close. Concepcion looked like he was done and got hit with a lot of clean punches, but with less than 20 seconds to go in the round he landed a left hook to the head of Lopez, dropping him. The champ got up and the bell sounded to end the round.
Calm
In the second round, Concepcion pushed forward and was soon down again after a straight left from Lopez. He got up, but this time Lopez stayed calm and kept his right jab out as a range-finder. In the last 40 seconds of the round, Lopez landed combinations of straight left and right hooks to Concepcion's head - dropping him again. He tried to get up but stumbled and the referee stopped it at 2:37 awarding Lopez the win by TKO.
Even though this fight was a short one it certainly had excitement with a total of four knockdowns inside less than two completed rounds. Concepcion showed guts and Lopez showed the heart of a champion with this, his second fight in the higher weight class where he has scored two stoppages and is showing amazing punch power.
Lopez is now scheduled to face Mexican legend Rafael Marquez in September in Las Vegas. He is carrying the Puerto Rican torch on from Miguel Cotto and remains unbeaten.
