If the stars are aligned just right, fans could be in for a thriller tonight when Juan Manuel Lopez and Rafael Marquez square off for Lopez’s featherweight world title at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime).
All the elements are there. Both are knockout artists. One is Mexican and one is Puerto Rican, which means boxing’s biggest rivalry will be in play. Marquez is a lock for the International Boxing Hall of Fame while Lopez still needs a few big wins to be assured of landing there.
But there’s also the possibility this could be a one-sided quick fight won by the younger Lopez, who at 27 is eight years Marquez’s junior. That age difference has been one of the hot topics of this promotion, and it’s one that seems to have gotten under Marquez’s skin.
AOL Fanhouse took a poll of 10 boxing journalists this week. Nine picked Lopez to win, seven by knockout. All but two mentioned Lopez’s youth while giving their reasons.
Marquez scoffed at such talk.
“I tell them that they’re wrong,” Mexico’s Marquez said when asked what he says to those who question what he has left at 35. “As long as you take care of yourself and as long as you prepare well for a fight, that shouldn’t be any problem.
“I think my brother proved that against Juan Diaz, who is 10 years younger than him.”
Marquez is right. His brother, 37-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez, has two victories over 27-year-old Juan Diaz in two lightweight title fights over the
