Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico hopes to become the first four time champion from the enchanted island. Having conquered the 122 lbs. WBO title already, he will go after the second step in his dream on Saturday, January 23rd when he challenges WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano.
“The financial aspect of the fight is not done yet but my manager takes care of that and I am sure that soon it will,” Lopez stated regarding the Luevano bout. “I think it will be a great fight, he boxes a lot, he is taller and is a southpaw like me. This will be a fight that will need to be won round by round because he is going to move a lot, he is not going to want to exchange with me. We must keep a lot of pressure on him to dominate him.”
As far as his last outing where he defeated Rogers Mtagwa, Lopez declared:
“It is a fight where I learned a lot, I especially learned that I must listen to my corner,” Lopez said regarding his less than impressive showing. “As fighters we must admit that there are times that we get over confident. In this fight, we were supposed to box him the whole time but in the eighth round, I stood and fought him,” Lopez states. “I wasn’t looking to knock him out but to slow him down because he was coming forward and I ended up fighting his fight.
“My corner kept telling me to go back to boxing but I kept fighting him. That fight has helped me a lot. A lot of people would ask how I would do in a tough fight, cut, in a bad situation, but I proved that I can get over it. Now I know that I must listen to my corner.
As far as the super bantamweight division in which he won his title, Lopez expressed that he might not return.
“I always made weight but everytime it became harder and harder. We think that right now, there is much better fights at 126 lbs. We wanted to stay at 122 and make a fight with Celestino Caballero in January but it was not possible,” Lopez said. “I saw a video in which he said he didn’t want to fight for money but for pride and honor but when we began to negotiate, he asked for too much money. Now we will see what happens at 126 and I expect him to come up too and if not in this division, perhaps at 130 or 135 but I know that one day we will meet.”