Moments ago WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez was spotted at the Texas Station Hotel and Casino at tonight’s Top Rank Live card from Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez is in town to show support to his friend Marcos Jiminez during his bout against local favorite Diego Magdaleno late tonight. Lopez was in the news recently as it was announced that he will be facing off with former IBF champion Orlando Salido on April 16th at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Salido is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa in his last bout, a contest that took place at the nearby Palms Casino.
People have been speculating about a possible Lopez-Gamboa contest for quite some time but it remains to be seen if Top Rank promoter Bob Arum will have it in his 2011 agenda. Gamboa has a March 26th assignment in Atlantic City against Jorge Solis himself and other opponents have been mentioned as ideal candidates to face off with the two champions this fall.
Lopez is serving as somewhat of a subplot these days to the recent news that Showtime-CBS will be airing the May 7th Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley from the MGM Grand. Last year Lopez, Pacquiao and other Top Rank stars, including Brandon Rios and Miguel Cotto, all saw action on HBO’s airwaves but all four men are lined up to see time on Showtime in their upcoming contests.
