The last we saw of Juan Manuel Lopez, he was getting drilled with one right hand after another by the hardnosed Orlando Salido, eventually stopped in eight rounds by the hard-charging Mexican back in April. This Saturday night, he returns to the scene of the crime at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico when he faces Mike Oliver. Oliver is a carefully hand-picked foe, designed to get the southpaw firmly back on the horse without getting him thrown off the saddle.
It wasn?t supposed to be this way, ?JuanMa? taking a confidence rebuilding tune-up fight in the fall. The Salido fight in the spring was supposed to be just another victory on his way to a marquee bout with the likes of Yuriorkis Gamboa.
“I think I was a little overconfident and there were some personal problems that I don?t want to get into- they were there and I don?t think I put the concentration or emphasis I needed to put into that fight,” admitted Lopez through Top Rank publicist Ricardo ?Rosetta Stone? Jimenez.
The domestic disharmony in Lopez?s household was no secret on the island. His marriage to his wife, Barbara, was on the rocks and there were rampant rumors of infidelity. Months before the Salido fight, he was gallivanting around the globe, traveling to Arlington, Texas for Manny Pacquiao?s bout with Antonio Margarito, then to the Philippines for the ?Pac-Man?s? birthday celebration, then to Las Vegas for the Nonito Donaire-Fernando Montiel fight.
On the morning of the Donaire fight at the Mandalay Bay, a press event was staged that featured Lopez among other boxers who would be fighting in the upcoming weeks. Lopez, to put it kindly, looked rather portly. As you mentioned his rather soft look to Bob Arum, the promoter, in his inimitable way, responded, “That?s nothing. You should?ve seen a few weeks ago!”
Yeah, you could see this coming a mile away. Upsets just don?t happen the night of the fight as a favored fighter has an off night. Sometimes, these are long-term projects where boxers like Lopez really do it to themselves.
