Can Juan Manuel Lopez’s problems be fixed with more defensive work or is he too weak and fragile to beat Salido?
April 19th, 2011
By Dan Ambrose: Sometimes fighters do really well until they reach a certain level of competition where they ceiling out in their development. It doesn’t matter much you teach that fighter, he’s still limited to that level based on flaws in his chin, stamina or speed. It looks as if former WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (30-1, 27 KO’s) has reached his peak and run head long into the ceiling of what he’s capable of in being stopped in the 8th round by Orlando Salido last weekend.
Now there has been talk that Lopez’s problems from the Salido fight will be solved if he dedicates himself training and gets a new trainer to help him with his defensive liabilities. I see this as a waste of time for Lopez. He can’t fix his problems because he is too limited to improve enough to ever beat a fighter like Salido. Face it: Lopez fought a superior fighter and there is no way that Lopez can change it. He is what he is. Lopez is like the Joe Frazier to Salido’s George Foreman. It doesn’t matter how many times Frazier fought Foreman, he always lost. The same applies for Lopez. He’s going to get spanked in the rematch with Salido, and hopefully he and his promoter Bob Arum learn a lesson from that fight. They’ll recognize that it’s better to walk away rather than fight when facing superior talent.
Tags: 34 Responses to “Can Juan Manuel Lopez’s problems be fixed with more defensive work or is he too weak and fragile to beat Salido?”
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Overconfidence and success has gone to the head of juanma. This loss is good for him. He learned that you have to train hard every time. He could learn a lot from the pacman, a very disciplined and humble fighter. Pacquiao is now my new idol
@yatusabes… don’t hold yur breath waiting 4 the next article featuring ricans. Y’all haven’t done sh*t 4 anyone 2 write bout.
Salido was the better fighter this time. It does not mean that Juanma lacks skills, on the contrary he has pelotas because he stood and trade punches not like the sorry as Gamboa that ran like a Cuban Culon. So there never take any Mexica lightly……MEX 2 PR
Nonito Donaire, who’s not even at featherweight yet but will be soon, would serve a beatdown on JML if they fought today. Lopez has no footwork or lateral movement whatsoever and this is why he was exposed.
@PowerVCT…I see you’ve taken your talents to South Beach. LOL
@yatusabes…. as of right now….13 Mexican world champions …. PR 2!!, that’s right jus 2!!! Bro , we have more champs in MMA than y’all do in boxing.
I like Lopez but he clearly lost this fight. And if they had a rematch he would lose again. I hope Lopez and Gamboa can get the fight done. So I can be a Juanma fan again.
Get off the distraction junk! Fighters fight and when someone is trying to take your head off in the ring, you aren’t thinking about Jodi! JML problem is defense and endurance. He needs new trainers and it only get’s worse if he decides to move up in weight!
Sure lopez can improve against right hands. I was surprised he was easy to hit. the fight was stopped early.
@yatusabes…. if winning fights between bums nobodys ever heard of makes u proud, go ahead, if it makes u feel better bout yourself. Y’all r weak compared 2 us. Someones always owned u cowards. Spain owned u for 400 years & now America. WEAK!!!
defense at top notch? thats what killed him, his confidence, he thought this was gonna be another one punch KO I think this was good for him, now he knows he can be floored to, this will only improve his defense and will push him to train harder and work harder, after that he will be unstppable. Ambrose u idiot he wasnt ready for that fight, he was to slow and had zero movement, go write about hating Cotto
@forgood mira pendejo dime donde vives para partirte la cara how can you blame puerto ricans when the referee stopped the fight prematurely?? Juanma was concious and still fighting back second u call us animals??? Why is the violence in mexico so high?? Drug wars and fellow countrymen killing each other have you seen the news??? wait maybe youy are a run away drug lord if we are animals you guys are aliens because the way you guys are and behave is alot worse than us gosh i hate burrito aliens that say hola vato eso estuvo bien chingon ha ha ha ha
@every one like i said i will keep schoolimg any one who dares challenge me but as a reminder and pride79 is a witness i foresaw juanma having issues so the outcome does not hurt me or surprise me like i said before my boxing i.q. is superb so i know what time it is ill be glad to tell it to any heter who challenges me oh by the way viva puerto rico puneta
@john are you blind???? just cuz a fighter is dazed or wobles does noit mean you have a bad chin. Juanma has good chin he takes alot of punishment and the dude wont quit so i would accept if you said his defense is not good because i dont thiunk so either but never question his chin this man would niot go down and even wanted to fight the referee for stopping the fight prematurely
@pride79 that is bull because when vazquez beat el choko last year he was considered one of the best out there. The thing is that if we produce 10 fighters they will be great but if ya mexicans produce 60 fighters only one or two can beat us so our winning percentage is higher and we are better period i don’t sweat one or two fights lost which is nothing compared to ya loosing about a thousand times ha ha ha
Lopez lost because of his lack of head movement and punching speed and accuracy during that fight. Salido always hits the button every time he unloads his power shots. Lopez still young and have lots to improve. Can’t wait for the rematch.
Salido is a tough guy & most of his 11 loses came early in his career (He went pro @ age 15) So he was basically a kid fighting full grown men on many ocassions.
In this fight however Salido was the man who came to Lopez backyard to fight & Lopez was the kid who seemed to let early success get to his head.
I feel it’s as much a case of Salido being overlooked as Lopez being exposed.
We’ve seen it over & over in boxing; the hot new prospect with the big ’0′ on his record everyone seems to covet these days meets an experienced veteran & gets taught a boxing lesson. (Maidana / Morales anyone?)
What we often fail to take into account is how the veteran got the losses; early in a career, bad matchmaking, managers pushing him too far too fast?
That being said; Salido, from what I saw, dominated from round four on, with Lopez having a moment or two as well. Lopez never seemed to have fully recovered from the first knockdown & Salido’s patience & experience paid off.
I don’t feel the results of a rematch are a foregone conclusion. Lopez showed grit & a few less rights to his head(like maybe.. 30 less) We would have a close fight.
It was a good fight, the next one should be in neutral territory.
@FORGOOD,AND FLOYD ON ROIDS ,It was the 1st fight when the riot started ,hahaha! It was funny when they hit Golota in the head with a object.
@CHE GUEVARA
I think FORGOOD!! is refering to the Bowe/Golota II fight, when a riot broke out after Golota hit Bowe with one too many low blows! All hell broke loose in that arena!
@FORGOOD I haven’t checked it. lol I’ll checked that out.
@FORGOOD LOL Lopez looked like if his jaw was broken too.He was dripping salyva off his lips. we don’t want to see a tragedy here,it was a good call.
@Floyd On Roids Or problably Lopez would’ve taken a knee like some fighters we know,:)
cough,cough,Calderon Cotto.
It was a good Bum fight.
@CHE GUEVARA
Yes, JaunMa was the defending champion, and the fight was held in his hometown in Puerto Rico. They should’ve given JuanMa the benifit of the doubt, and let him get knocked out with honor!
@Floyds on Roids
Premature stopage? ,Did you see the interview at the end ? Lopez couldn’t even talk right, it looked like if his brain was lose inside his scole.
This fight just intensified the rivalry between Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, especially with a possible Margarito vs. Cotto II on the horizon! I think the referee stopped the fight too prematurely, he should’ve waited ’til Salido knocked JuanMa down to the canvas!
If they do have a rematch, It should be held at Orlando Salido’s hometown in Mexico. They didn’t show any hospitality towards Solido after his victory, instead water bottles were being thrown at the ring, even Al Berstein was hit with a water bottle! Yes, Salido was in a rough neighborhood!
Salido has more speed, timing, reach, stamina and chin. No matter what JuanMa does those things can’t be changed.
Salido a veteran guy demolished a young strong man. I don’t think Juanma should take the rematch,Salido is too much puzzled for him(Juanmarica).
@ caribian cool: excuses excuses. Jaunma was exposed,that’s it. Jaunma is a c+ fighter. Salido will rock him again in his measly country.
JOHN IF GAMBOA COMES IN THE WAY HE BEAT SOLIS HE BEATS HIM IN ONE….
distractions? so he was distracted when concepcion knocked him down? when matagwa had him running for his life? when marquez wobbled him?…no way,he just can’t take punches,thats why he lost…people need to stop with the excuses and just give salido the credit he deserves
@CARIBBEAN CULO_THE ONLY PROBLEM JUANMA HAD WAS THAT HE DIDNT WANT FIGHT WITH RED GLOVES CAUSE THEY DIDNT MATCH THE OUTFIT HE HAD ON U FOOL!!!….SO STOP CRYING U LAME LOSSER….JUANMA WILL NEVER BEAT SALIIDO!!!.HAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAA
juanma to me was never that great…his problem is his chin,he can’t take punches,he’s been wobbled and dropped before,he gets hurt really fast,you can tell by looking at his reaction when he gets hit it really affects him,you can’t improve on your ability to take punches,yeah he might win the rematch,but he will always be vulnerable and he better stay away from guys who can punch and especially from gamboa,that guy will really ko him,salido isn’t that big of a puncher,neither were concepcion and marquez who was an ex bantam,gamboa will ko him in 3
Juan Manuel Lopez Came Into The Fight With Too Many Distractions And Personal Issues Leading Up To The Fight With Orlando Salido But Mark My Words Juanma Will Be Back And Regain His World Title This Time In The Rematch He’ll Return The Favor And KO Salido!