WBO junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel ‘Juanma’ Lopez (26-0, 24 KOs) will defend his title this Saturday against challenger Rogers Mtagwa. The bout is being promoted by Top Rank and is billed as “Island Warriors – Latin Fury 12.” The site will be the famed Madison Square Garden. The Puerto Rico native Lopez, who is promoted by Top Rank and PR Best Boxing has fought on two undercards earlier in his career at the Garden but this will be his first time headlining in a main event there. Lopez spoke with Fightnews on his upcoming fight as he closed out his training camp.
Also featured on the card will be the WBA super featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (15-0, 13 KOs) of Cuba who will be defending against former world title challenger Whyber Garcia (22-6, 15 KOs) of Panama. Unbeaten Olympic gold medalist Odlanier Solis (14-0, 10 KOs) of Cuba will take on Chicago based former 2-time world heavyweight title challenger Fres Oquendo (31-5, 20 KOs). Pawel Wolak (24-1, 16 KOs) will take on Carlos Nasciemento (24-1, 20 KOs) in a junior middleweight bout.Tickets, priced at $250, $150, $75 and $50 and are available at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets or online at www.thegarden.com. Island Warriors — Latin Fury 12 — is available on Pay-Per-View.