FIGHTING IN DALLAS CAN BE DEADLY!
San Francisco, CA– Fifty years ago this coming November, President John Kennedy went to Dallas, TX to fight for votes and went home in a box. Sad as it is, history might very well repeat itself as Juan Manuel Lopez is in serious peril tomorrow night when he takes on unbeaten WBO 126 lb. champion Mikey Garcia at the American Airlines Arena in a 12-rounder airing on HBO Championship Boxing.
JUAN MA LIKE JFK AFTER FIRST BULLET
As the limosine carrying Kennedy slowed to a crawl for reasons that would become quite
obvious later, the president was hit with a single shot in the throat that entered from the front. With his life hanging in the wind for a few seconds before the final head shots, this is where Lopez is now as a boxer. He has been hit, we’re only waiting for the final salvo of shots to seal his boxing fate.
HEIR TO PUERTO RICO’S BOXING THRONE
Who would have thought that the “darling of Puerto Rican boxing, the heir apparent to the likes of Felix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez and
Wilfred Benitez, would get stiffened by a boxer in Orlando Saldido (39-12-2, 27 KOs) that did not exhibit world class skills either prior to or after destroying Juan Ma not once, but twice!
“IMPOSTER” SALIDO HUMBLED BY GARCIA
Essentially even on the scorecards both times, Salido reared up and earned a TKO 8 in 2011 and a TKO 10 in the 2012 rematch with Lopez. In January of this year, Mikey Garcia (31-0, 26 KOs) throttled Salido with three knockdowns in as many rounds before a head butt is said to have broken Garcia’s nose resulting in a Technical Decision 8. So dominant was Garcia that the scores after eight frames read 79-69, 79-69 & 79-70.
COMPLETE BEATINGS ARE UNFORGIVING
In asessing the chances of Juan Ma prevailing here, I don’t look at Garcia shutting out Salido as much as I do Salido lighting up Lopez twice. Not only was he a beaten and tired fighter as both fights ticked to a close, Juan Ma looked neurologically misaligned as he staggered around the ring on both occassions.
JUAN MA “OVERRATED” BY MYSELF & OTHERS
Being of the opinion that Lopez is certified damaged goods, and that his decline is not due to issues in his personal life, the decline of Lopez can be atributed to his both his weight issues and the fact that he is NOT the second coming of Felix Trinidad. That being said, Lopez will try and box (shoe shine) Garcia from afar. The reality is that Garcia will loop shots over the Juan Ma defense and probably win inside the distance.
Pedro Fernandez