By Dan Ambrose: Next month former WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (31-1, 28 KO’s) will be attempting to regain his lost WBO title against the current champion former Lopez conqueror Orlando Salido (37-11-2, 25 KO’s) on March 10th at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Lopez, 28, has been hard at work getting in the best shape of his life and working a lot on trying to develop more movement and boxing skills to prevent standing in front of Salido and getting knocked out for a second time.

Lopez was bludgeoned into submission by the 31-year-old Salido last April in an 8th round TKO loss once again in Puerto Rico. It must have been hard for Lopez to get blasted out in front of his adoring fans like that. However, he seemed to think that it was a bad stoppage and felt that he could have gone on.

To be sure, Lopez was fighting back of sorts at the time of the stoppage but it was like a little kid getting beaten hopelessly by a bigger, better skilled kid on the school ground.

Lopez was getting riddled to pieces by Salido’s big jarring right hands one after another and looked punch drunk from the 6th round on until the fight was mercifully halted in the 8th with Lopez having his hand whip-lashed over and over again by repeated right hands from Salido.

After the fight, Lopez looked angry at the stoppage but just one look at him told you that the guy really stopping because he just disoriented as heck. The guy looked like he had drunk two six packs of beer; that how disoriented Lopez looked from the right hands from Salido. He was literally knocking Lopez silly to the point where he just didn’t have it anymore.

I see the same thing happening in the rematch I’m afraid. I’m sure Lopez will be moving around the ring a lot on March 10th, but he’ll have to mix it up when he wants to land his shots and a big part of his game is the hooks he likes to throw. Salido will waiting for him and will nail Lopez with big right hands each time he comes forward, and I see this fight ending a lot like the first fight. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Lopez will slip back into his old style of fighting within a round or two like it’s an old comfortable shoe; except in this case it won’t be so comfortable because Salido will continue to wear Lopez out with right hands to the head like he did last time until the referee will probably have to save Lopez again by stopping the brutal beating.

I think this is a really bad idea for Lopez to take this rematch because Salido really has his number. I’m surprised Bob Arum allowed Lopez to take this fight because that kind of runs counter to his usual protective stye for his fighters. Lopez could be risking his career in this fight. Another loss, and his paydays will likely drop off dramatically.