Looking every bit like an elite, top-level pound-for-pound fighter, unbeaten former WBO lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (32-0, 27 KO) made quick and efficient work of former champion JuanMa Lopez (33-3, 30 KO) in Dallas last night in front of a crowd of 5,605 at the American Airlines Center.
The finish to Garcia vs Lopez came in Round 4 after Garcia landed a counter right that stunned Lopez followed by a left hook that sent the Puerto Rican crashing to the canvas.
JuanMa beat the count but the referee deemed he was unable to continue and the action was halted.
There was no protest from JuanMa’s camp at the time of the stoppage.
The knockout wasn’t altogether surprising. Garcia’s hard, stiff jab found its target repeatedly and regularly snapped back the head of Lopez.
In Round 2, Garcia had dropped JuanMa with a nasty straight right and had been landing jolting, eye-catching shots from the second stanza until the finish in Round 4. Simply put, it was a brilliant display of speed, skills and power by Mickey Garcia.
Garcia had JuanMa off balance, and flailing and lounging throughout. While the Puerto Rican pressed forward, Garcia would take a half a step back and crack his foe with a precise counter right. Indeed, Garcia made a good (but not great) fighter look amateurish at times last night.
JuanMa Was Brave, Determined… and Reckless Credit to JuanMa for coming to fight. There were no ‘safety’ precautions on his end nor any attempts to merely survive and go the distance. If he was going to lose, he was going out on his shield.
Perhaps the hardest-punching featherweight since Prince Naseem Hamed, the Puerto Rican was aggressive and tried hard to land his signature shots, knowing he’d be opening himself up to Garcia’s arsenal in the process.
A southpaw, Lopez had a fairly decent first round and was able to assert himself by landing his straight lefts. But unfortunately for JuanMa, his opponent was able to make the necessary adjustments.
Wobbly and perhaps feeling a bit desperate, it was JuanMa Lopez (not Garcia) who initially went for the kill in Round 4 but was met with clean shots from Garcia as the Puerto Rican came forward. According to CompuBox statistics, Garcia threw 120 jabs and landed 40. Lopez, who threw just 68 jabs and landed only four, looked to land powershots early and often.
Weighty Issues Before Friday’s weigh-in, Mikey Garcia was the reigning WBO featherweight champion. But at the weigh-in, Garcia weighed in at 128 pounds, 2 pounds over the featherweight limit of 126 pounds. As a result, he lost the title – now vacant – on the scale prior to entering the ring.
“Not what I wanted, not what I expected and it sucked,” Garcia said weighing in over the limit. “I think I can still fight at featherweight with the proper training and proper diet.
“I got a little sick last week, and that was probably the reason I had trouble making weight.”
Garcia insisted he can still make the featherweight limit. And although he seemed uncertain on whether to stay at Featherweight (126 lbs) or move up to jr lightweight (130 lbs), he doesn’t seem overly eager to exit the division just yet.
Mikey Garcia: Next Fight If Garcia moves north to jr lightweight, he might face the gritty Rocky Martinez (27-1-2, 16 KO), the WBO Jr Lightweight Champion in another Mexico-Puerto Rico match-up.
Garcia is “the goods” so far and looked every bit like an emerging star of the sport last night. His future is very bright.
JuanMa: What’s Next? Having started 30-0 with 27 knockouts, JuanMa, once the fastest rising star in boxing, has lost 3 of his last 6 fights, all by stoppage.
Is the 29 year old done at this level? Probably not. He’s a crowd-pleasing hard-punching fighter from Puerto Rico – a land with a proud boxing legacy. He’s only lost to elite fighters, Orlando Salido and Mikey Garcia.
(And yes, while Salido’s raw skills are “average” for a top 10 featherweight, his toughness, grit, effective aggression and level of opposition put him in that category).
Look for Lopez, if he continues to fight,, to pick up a title or two in the next few years by dominating lesser-skilled opposition – But its questionable if he’ll ever be a star or be capable of defeating elite-level opponents.
Garcia vs Lopez Facts and Stats Mikey Garcia 31-0 (26 KOs) vs. Juan Manuel Lopez 33-2 (30 KOs)
Garcia entered with an 83% knockouts-to-fights ratio while JuanMa’s was 88%.
Mikey Garcia entered as the RING Magazine (i.e. real and legit) world featherweight champion
JuanMa Lopez was a 4.35-to-1 underdog
Lopez was ranked as the No. 10 featherweight contender by RING Magazine
Garcia entered two pounds over the 126-pound limit and was stripped of his title. Had Lopez won, he would have captured the vacant belt
Garcia purportedly paid Team Lopez $150,000 USD to take the fight due to the former’s weight
In his most recent bout, Garcia’s nose was badly broken against Orlando Salido (39-11-2) five months prior. The injury, the result of a headbutt, forced the bout to be stopped after 8 rounds. And Garcia, far ahead on the judges’ scorecards, was awarded the technical decision.
Despite failing to make weight against JuanMa, Garcia insisted he could still fight comfortably as a featherweight but hinted a move to jr lightweight was far from improbable
Some fight experts, including the HBO commentators, assert Lopez is an “old” 29.
ESPN Boxing Analyst Dan Rafael stated: “Lopez is a very exciting fighter, but he’s finished at this level. He’s just too reckless, at times looking like a guy trying to remember what he’s doing, and nowhere near a world class fighter. Garcia made Lopez resemble a Friday Night Fights opponent who’s been around a handful of fights too long.
