By Dan Ambrose: It didn’t take long for ex-WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (31-2, 28 KO’s) to step up and give an apology for some of the ill-advised comments he made about referee Roberto Ramirez Sr. after the 28-year-old Lopez’s 10th round TKO stoppage loss against World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Orlando Salido (38-11-2, 26 KO’s) last Saturday night at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Lopez was unhappy with the referee Ramirez Sr. due to him pulling the plug on his fight against Salido after Lopez was dropped to the canvas in the 10th. He got back to his feet but couldn’t stand without swaying from one side to another while the referee Ramirez Sr. was looking him over to see if he should let him continue. Ramirez Sr. didn’t like what he saw and stopped the fight without letting Lopez attempt to come back from the knockdown. It was a wise decision because Lopez was badly hurt and Salido looked unstoppable, like he was just getting started. After the fight an upset Lopez said that Ramirez Sr. had stopped the fight due to gambling interests.

Lopez said this to fightnews.com in a written statement: “I want to apologize to Roberto for the comments I made after the fight with Salido. Roberto is one of the best referees in the world and did a great job. I appreciate him protecting me because I was definitely hurt.”

This is very true. Lopez was far too hurt to continue and would only have been dropped again by Salido had Ramirez Sr. allowed Lopez to continue fighting. He was too far gone by that point in the fight and had left all he had in the tank in the brutal 8th and 9th rounds when Lopez finally attempted to brawl with Salido after doing a lot of moving in the first seven rounds of the fight.