This Saturday night WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez defends his title against former champion Orlando Salido in Bayamon, Puerto Rico but at the moment there is tension of another kind brewing on the island. While Lopez and Salido have been nothing but cordial to one another, the name of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. has recently been coming out of Lopez’s lips as the two men have been trading barbs with one another.
Apparently Vazquez Jr., the reigning WBO champion at 122 pounds, made some disparaging remarks towards Lopez in regards to his popularity, upbringing, and personnel behind him, among other things, in a recent appearance on ESPN. Upon catching wind of Vazquez’s taunts, the typically mild-mannered Lopez returned the fire.
<--- Slideshow: Juan Manuel Lopez in Puerto Rico as Orlando Salido bout nears
“I don’t like to give promotion to anybody, so this is the last time that I’m going to talk about him,” Lopez was quoted as saying in a recent BoxingScene.com piece by Rey Colon. “Wilfredo Vazquez made some strong comments about me, that there is arrogance in me. He said that my team is mediocre. I regret that he is not here so I can tell him to his face, that if my team is mediocre, well this is the same team that helped make him a world champion. I am not arrogant. I’m really cool with everybody. Tutico Zabala doesn’t take my six figures. I am a fighter who takes my money. I know what I’m worth and we can fight next.”
Lopez went on to add that Vazquez is making a mistake by questioning his team, as both Peter Rivera and Bob Arum have helped guide each man’s career. Lopez took particular offense to Vazquez’s remarks about his popularity and place on the world class stage.
“And he made comments about where my fights are staged but the Roberto Clemente and the Ruben Rodriguez are two of the best theaters in Puerto Rico. At the Roberto Clemente is where Muhammad Ali fought. And the Ruben Rodriguez is where he became a champion. He said that I was never a part of the large events and he is part of the Pacquiao undercard, well I was part of the undercard to Pacquiao’s fight with Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand. He talks about where I came from, I am humble and I have built myself from the bottom,” Lopez said resoundingly.
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Intriguing stuff to say the least. It’s hard to get a sense of where all of this stems from. I remember Vazquez Jr. and Lopez were both present inside of Lupos restaurant inside of the Mandalay Bay the day of the Nonito Donaire-Fernando Montiel bout and they didn’t seem to go out of their way to embrace the other. Gut feeling here says that perhaps Vazquez Jr., who has shown himself to be a bit of a live wire in the past, is either a bit jealous of Lopez or trying to drum up interest in a fight.
Vazquez will next see action on May 7th as he defends his crown against former champion Jorge Arce at the MGM Grand on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard. The fight everyone wants to see Lopez in is a bout with WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa but that doesn’t seem likely until at least 2012.
