By Jim Dower: World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (28-0, 25 KO’s) will be facing former bantamweight and super bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez (39-5, 35 KO’s) on September 18th, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada, provided that Lopez wins his next fight against Bernabe Concepcion (28-3-1, 15 KO’s) on July 10th in Puerto Rico.

Lopez, 26, should be able to get by Concepcion without too many problems. However, the 35-year-old Marquez could be a big test for Lopez, because Marquez has been one of the best fighters in boxing for the past 10 years while winning titles in two divisions.

Marquez likes to brawl, has good power, an excellent jab and likes to brawl. He does well against boxer/punchers like Lopez and only seems to have problems against huge punchers like Israel Vazquez. Lopez has good power, but he’s not considered a huge puncher.

Lopez gets most of his knockouts by having good timing. Lopez has only been in one fight that you would consider to be a war and that was against Rogers Mtagwa in October 2009. Lopez did well until the later rounds when he was staggered in the 11th and took furious punishment in the 12th.

Somehow, Lopez, badly hurt almost out on his feet, made it to the end of the 12th to get the win over Mtagwa. But the victory showed Lopez’s weakness when it comes to taking punishment. Lopez can dish it out, but isn’t nearly as good at taking the same kind of punishment that he routinely dishes out.

The question for the Marquez fight is whether Lopez will be able to take the kind of shots round after round that Marquez will be firing at him. Lopez may not have the power needed to stop Marquez, which means he may have to be ready for a long, grueling 12 round battle.

Unless Marquez gets old overnight, this could be a very competitive fight. What we don’t know is whether Marquez has enough left in the tank to fight a long 12 round battle against a fighter like Lopez. If he does, then this could be the toughest fight of Lopez’s career and he may just lose it.

None of the opposition that Lopez has faced thus far will prepare him for what he’ll be meeting when he steps in the ring against Marquez on September 18th. He’s a completely different fighter compared to guys like Steven Luevano, Mtagwa, Daniel Ponce De Leon, and Gerry Penalosa, the best opponents that Lopez has fought up to this point in his career.