This Saturday night boxing fans could be in for a treat as 1 of the most interesting fights of the year will be taking place in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Two guys that usually find a way to end their fights early will enter the ring as Miguel “Mikey” Garcia will defend his WBO Featherweight title, that he won in January against Orlando Salido (a name you’ll hear a lot later), against “JuanMa” Juan Manual Lopez. Garcia will be looking to continue to add to his list of victims in the ring, which is growing, while Lopez will be looking to regain the respect he had 2 years ago and get his name back at the top of the mountain.
The highly skilled 25 year old Mexican, Mikey Garcia, comes into the bout sporting an impressive 31-0 record with 26 KOs. His last bout was ultra-impressive as he put down the then Champion, Orlando Salido 4 times in their fight. The fight was stopped do to Garcia receiving a broken nose in the 8th from an accidental head butt, which forced the fight to go to the cards early. Garcia is 1 of those rare talents that has both power and skill. He throws good combos and probably his best attribute is his patience. He never seems flustered and he never gets too high or low. He just uses his jab early, feels out his opponents early, and ends them middle to late in his fights. A lot of people would actually like to see him more aggressive, as he seems to need to be challenged before he turns it up. However, I’m by the saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”.
The 29 year old exciting, hard punching, Puerto Rican born, Juan Manuel Lopez comes into this fight with a 33-2 record with 30 KOs, with his only 2 losses coming both to Orlando Salido. Lopez was a rising start at the start of 2011, he was 30-0 with 27 KOs, he was an exciting, he had a crowd pleasing style, and then April 16th, 2011 happened. In a fight that wasn’t supposed to be a big challenge, he was stopped in the 8th round by Orlando Salido. Then, after a prep fight, he was stopped a year later to Salido again. Then there’s the post-fight interview, in which Lopez accused the ref of purposely stopping the fight early do to a gambling problem that led to a 1 year suspension for Lopez by the WBO. He now hopes to make his climb back up to the top of the ladder as he gets a title shot after 2 fights against bad opponents at Super Featherweight.
Most people expect Garcia to win this fight easily against a Lopez that people now question. However, I feel this fight will be very entertaining and Lopez definitely has a chance. Keep in mind when downgrading a fighter that has only 2 losses and they are to the same person, sometimes a certain boxer just has your number. He may not be a great fighter, but his style bothers you and you just can’t find a way to beat him. This fight will show if Salido is just Lopez’s kryptonite or if Lopez just lost it, and lost it quickly. My official pick for this is a late round stoppage by Garcia, around 10th round, but I would, by no means, be surprised of Lopez pulled off a shocker by catching Garcia with his power early. Sometimes boxing fans can be bandwagon fans, as down as people are on Lopez now, we will if his bandwagon will get some extra passengers this weekend, enjoy the fight.
