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Philippines, 20 Apr 2024 |
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THE OTHER SUPER FIGHT PhilBoxing.com Mon, 28 Mar 2011   Juan Manuel Lopez broke camp to be at ringside Saturday night as a spectator to this fight. His next fight is scheduled for next month but tonight he is watching someone who could provide him the biggest fight in his young career both financially and professionally. He is watching fellow belt holder Yuriorkis Gamboa defend his version of the featherweight world title. Not only did he watch Gamboa fight, he watched him dominate a persistent veteran in Jorge Solis. Gamboa put on a show not only for Lopez but for the sold out Boardwalk Hall arena. He knocked down Solis five times in a span of four rounds,. His speed was so overwhelming for Solis to handle making Solis an easy target of Gamboa?s assault. The crowd who was mostly here for the under cards which features the state?s up and coming fighters, came out cheering with each knock down that he delivered. In a Saturday night of boxing where he is the headline on HBO, the former Olympic gold medalist delivered a highlight filled performance not only for Lopez but for the rest of the world to see. Lopez?s presence in New Jersey might have been a promotional stunt of Top Rank and HBO for an inevitable big fight between the two. They have been groomed to fight each other since last year but Top Rank is not jumping right away at that idea. It has carefully matched them with lesser tiered opponents with hopes of building increased clamor for the two to fight. A clamor that is clearly evident in the crowd that chanted Juan-Ma, Juan-Ma, when Gamboa was being interviewed after his victory. Lopez then joined Gamboa in the ring by his own volition or not, congratulated Gamboa and expressed what the crowd and the people watching in their television sets want to hear. ?We?re the best in the division. We have to do it.? The fight has to be made by the powers that be at Top Rank and HBO. With the continued failure of negotiations for Pacquiao - Mayweather of which the two companies have been heavily involved with, they need not fail to make this one. The boxing public needs a breather from all the spectacle that surrounded the negotiations for the so called ?Fight of the Century.? There is no question that Lopez vs. Gamboa cannot beat the proposed ?Fight of the Century? but it sure would not hurt if they offer us something in that range. HBO tried to sell us the next big thing in Bradley vs. Alexander at the start of the year which resulted in big disappointment. Outside perhaps of Cotto - Margarito II, Lopez vs. Gamboa is the next big thing to a Pacquiao - Mayweather mega bout in terms of interest and business sense. People will come to see it, be it in a big stadium or pay-per-view. Lopez has a big following from a very enthusiastic Puerto Rican community. Gamboa has made a lot of fans with his impressive performance Saturday night. If he fights one more fight before meeting Lopez and provides us with the same rendition of a show, he will gain more admirers. But besides all of that, the simple fact is that the public will come and pay to watch two of the best boxers in the world fight in their prime. Juan Manuel Lopez should win against Orlando Salido, but must now be as equally impressive as Gamboa?s performance last Saturday. Salido gave Gamboa a hard time when they last fought, Lopez must not have that same problem with Salido in order to make a statement himself. He needs to be dominant in this win. He needs to equalize or better yet surpass Gamboa?s superb showing in New Jersey. He needs to impress in a bout that will also be broadcasted worldwide this time by Showtime Sports. Such is the pressure that a rival puts on another with a masterful showing of his own. Lopez?s fight on April 16, will definitely be compared to that of Saturday?s. That will benefit this rivalry even more. It will bring in additional promotion and publicity to this already anticipated fight. And this is what Top Rank wants. It is but understandable if Top Rank teases us next with another tune up fight for these two young stars. Another great showing by these two will just bring increased luster to this match but they should not prolong it though. They should not make us wait for next year in putting them in the ring against each other. This cannot turn into another overly extended wait for boxing. I understand the reasoning for a further build up of this two but please let it not be a long agonizing delay yet again. That would just put boxing in a bad light. The UFC/ MMA model of making fights the public wants to see will put our sport in an unfavorable position with comparisons to that of Mixed Martial Arts. Boxing needs to be build up with fights such as this and not stall resulting from setbacks like Pacquiao - Mayweather not being made. If there is no Pacquiao vs. Mayweather happening this year, Juan Manuel Lopez versus Yuriorkis Gamboa is 2011?s super fight. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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