Patience is a necessity for all parties involved in the sport of boxing and that trait will be essential in regards to the potentially explosive bout between Juan Manuel Lopez and Rafael Marquez, which is likely to be rescheduled from its September 18th date to sometime in October. Marquez injured his hand earlier this week and after taking the advice from his physician he stated that the injury will prevent him from being full able to compete against Lopez next month.
At first the whispers were that Top Rank would be eying a suitable replacement but now the parties closely connected to the contest will simply hope for Marquez? recovery in ample enough time for him to meet Lopez in October. The MGM Grand in Las Vegas will still likely serve as the bout?s venue in what could be one of the year?s wildest fights.
?I’m very disappointed,? Lopez stated earlier today. ?But I know that these things happen in boxing. I hope that the fight gets rescheduled soon and I look forward to fighting Rafael Marquez.?
Gary Shaw, Marquez? co-promoter, noted that his fighter tried to work through the pain but his efforts only made the injury far worse than expected. Marquez will simply let his hand wrest a matter of weeks before resuming his regimen.
The contest figures to be a dandy because of the fascinating blend of styles that the two men have. Lopez has a savvy technical prowess about him and an efficient offense from behind his southpaw stance while Marquez? attack is potent and deadly. At 35 years old Marquez does seem to be slowing and is out of his natural weight class in meeting Lopez at 126 pounds. Lopez in the reigning WBO featherweight champion and coming off of an explosive 2nd round TKO over Bernabe Concepcion last month in Puerto Rico.
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
