“I zigged when I should have zagged” claimed Jack Roper after being knocked out by Joe Louis, and it’s probably what Juan Manuel Lopez was thinking on April 16th when his rise to the top was stopped by Orlando Salido with a 8th round TKO. After a tumultuous beginning of year for the 28-year-old Juan Manuel Lopez, which involved problems both in and out of the ring, Juanma looks to get himself back on track on October 1st with a meeting against Mike Oliver in his native home of Puerto Rico.
With a rematch against Salido and a possibility of other big names on the horizon ( Yuriorkis Gamboa and Nonito Donaire chief amongst them), there is a lot riding on this fight. Can Juanma come back from his first professional defeat and steer his career back in the proper direction?
Tale of the tape:
Juan Manuel Lopez ( 30-1; 27 KO’s)
- 5’5″ Tall
- 69″ Reach
- 28 years old
Lopez has a very good amateur background, having won the Puerto Rican National Championships for 5 consecutive years. He also came in 2nd in the Pan American Games.
Lopez exploded into the boxing scene with a devastating 1st round KO over Daniel Ponce de Leon. He would defend his super bantamweight title 5 consecutive times before moving up in weight and knocking out former champion Steven Luevano. Juanma would get his first truly big name fight against Rafael Marquez in November 2010, in which he controlled and increasingly battered Marquez.
Lopez seemed on a collision course with fellow featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, but that train was derailed when an out of shape Lopez faced underrated Orlando Salido and was stopped in the 8th round. Whether the reason for this derailment, whether it was personal problems or lack of focus, Juanma has assured everyone that all of that is behind him and he is back on track.
Mike Oliver ( 25-2; 8 KO’s)
- 5’5″ Tall
- 68” Reach
- 31 years old
Relatively unknown Mike Oliver has been in the boxing game for close to 20 years now. He had over 300 amateur bouts, and was in the Jr. Olympics before he was 15 years old. He is also a former IBO Super Bantamweight champion and holds noticeable victories over Al Seeger and Mauricio Pastrana. Oliver is a southpaw and his only 2 defeats have been by way of early stoppage. He is entering this fight with a 4 fight win streak.
Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Mike Oliver Prediction:
Mike Oliver is a good way to track the focus level of Juanma. In theory Juanma should run over this guy, he’s naturally the bigger man, harder puncher, he’s faced stiffer competition, he’ll be in his hometown and Oliver is a light puncher.
The reason Mike Oliver is a good opponent to test Juanma’s focus level is because Oliver is still a very talented, crafty fighter. He’s fast, has good defense, likes to stay on the outside and catch opponents coming in. If Juanma isn’t focused he can get seriously outboxed by a guy like Oliver. The good news for Juanma is that with only 8 KO’s under his belt, Lopez doesn’t have to be concerned about getting KO’d. Which means Lopez will be very confident entering this fight, will look to land big punches from the start, use his physicality to control the ring and take care of business early.
Prediction: Juanma via early (rd 1-4) KO
