While Juan Manuel Lopez may look confidently victorious here, he was anything but in the final round of his fight Saturday with Rogers Mtagwa. Whether the aura of invincibility will be gone from Juanma remains to be seen.
This month’s bevy of burning fistic questions, from Juanma’s weekend walk on Queer Street to a UFC-boxing dinner date:
Q: Wow, now that was some high drama at the end of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Rogers Mtagwa fight! Did you see this one coming?
A: No way, and neither did anyone else, for that matter. Juanma was absolutely a punch or two away from losing the fight in round twelve, but Mtagwa, who had been throwing bombs all fight, finally ran out of steam. If the fight had gone 30 seconds longer, it’s likely the Ghanaian would have won. Lopez got absolutely rocked about ten times between round seven and the final bell, and it was a testament to his fighter’s heart that he gutted out the fight until the end. All credit to him.
Q: OK, so is Mtagwa that good, or are there now some chinks in Juanma the Terminator’s armor?
A: This one is really hard to tell. Mtagwa had 13 losses coming into the fight, but most were a result of early mismanagement. You have to believe that living and fighting out of Philly has made him the real deal, and that he’d be a handful for anyone at 122 pounds. However, I’m not sure if this was Juanma just taking Mtagwa too lightly, or if this is a roadmap to beating Lopez. I’ll tell you this: Lopez got hit with a ton of wide, looping shots that someone on the P4P list has no business getting hit with. If he can’t get avoid those shots from Mtagwa, imagine what Celestino Caballero or Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym would do to him.
Q: After the fight, Top Rank chief Bob Arum spewed forth his usual invectives, saying how bad referee Eddie Cotton was, as well as the judges. Any credence to his complaints?
A: A little, but Arum is so full of crap most of the time, I can’t believe he doesn’t attract flies. First off, Cotton wasn’t very good as usual, and looked like he did miss a couple of possible knockdowns that were ruled slips. He also allowed Mtagwa punches after the bell repeatedly, and a few headbutts. However, he gave Juanma TONS of leeway when it appeared he was out on his feet at the end of the fight, so I don’t know how Arum could be too upset. As far as the scores go, he was way off base. I keep reading about how Lopez’ early lead carried him to the decision; sorry, but if your “early lead” is only six rounds, and the other guy beats your rear end for the other six, that’s a draw. Yeah, Lopez had a knockdown, but the last round could easily be scored 10-8 for Mtagwa. I have no real issue with the scoring (116-111, 115-111, 114-113), but the idea that 114-113 is a bad score is totally ridiculous.
Q: Was it as ridiculous as play-by-play man Al Bernstein calling Juanma Juan “Manual” Lopez the whole fight?
A: Not quite, but it’s up there. You’d think a guy who’s covered boxing since the ‘70s would know how to pronounce a Latino name or two. I can’t believe color man Raul Marquez didn’t correct him at some point; it was getting annoying. I like Bernstein a lot, but he really needs to consult his Spanish pronunciation “Manuel”!
Q: Wow, now that was some high drama at the end of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Rogers Mtagwa fight! Did you see this one coming?
A: No way, and neither did anyone else, for that matter. Juanma was absolutely a punch or two away from losing the fight in round twelve, but Mtagwa, who had been throwing bombs all fight, finally ran out of steam. If the fight had gone 30 seconds longer, it’s likely the Ghanaian would have won. Lopez got absolutely rocked about ten times between round seven and the final bell, and it was a testament to his fighter’s heart that he gutted out the fight until the end. All credit to him.
Q: OK, so is Mtagwa that good, or are there now some chinks in Juanma the Terminator’s armor?
A: This one is really hard to tell. Mtagwa had 13 losses coming into the fight, but most were a result of early mismanagement. You have to believe that living and fighting out of Philly has made him the real deal, and that he’d be a handful for anyone at 122 pounds. However, I’m not sure if this was Juanma just taking Mtagwa too lightly, or if this is a roadmap to beating Lopez. I’ll tell you this: Lopez got hit with a ton of wide, looping shots that someone on the P4P list has no business getting hit with. If he can’t get avoid those shots from Mtagwa, imagine what Celestino Caballero or Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym would do to him.
Q: After the fight, Top Rank chief Bob Arum spewed forth his usual invectives, saying how bad referee Eddie Cotton was, as well as the judges. Any credence to his complaints?
A: A little, but Arum is so full of crap most of the time, I can’t believe he doesn’t attract flies. First off, Cotton wasn’t very good as usual, and looked like he did miss a couple of possible knockdowns that were ruled slips. He also allowed Mtagwa punches after the bell repeatedly, and a few headbutts. However, he gave Juanma TONS of leeway when it appeared he was out on his feet at the end of the fight, so I don’t know how Arum could be too upset. As far as the scores go, he was way off base. I keep reading about how Lopez’ early lead carried him to the decision; sorry, but if your “early lead” is only six rounds, and the other guy beats your rear end for the other six, that’s a draw. Yeah, Lopez had a knockdown, but the last round could easily be scored 10-8 for Mtagwa. I have no real issue with the scoring (116-111, 115-111, 114-113), but the idea that 114-113 is a bad score is totally ridiculous.
Q: Was it as ridiculous as play-by-play man Al Bernstein calling Juanma Juan “Manual” Lopez the whole fight?
A: Not quite, but it’s up there. You’d think a guy who’s covered boxing since the ‘70s would know how to pronounce a Latino name or two. I can’t believe color man Raul Marquez didn’t correct him at some point; it was getting annoying. I like Bernstein a lot, but he really needs to consult his Spanish pronunciation “Manuel”!
Q: In other news of the shocking sort, Jorge Linares got knocked out this weekend by unheralded Juan Carlos Salgado. Does this mean Linares was just a bunch of hype?
A: First off, it’s amazing how everyone has flown into full panic now that boxing’s Next Great Thing has a stunning loss. Yes, it was a shocking result, but for anyone who watched the fight, this was not Marcos Maidana beating down Victor Ortiz for three rounds en route to a stoppage. Basically, Linares got caught with a flush left he never saw coming, and couldn’t recover quickly enough. Salgado never beat him up, nor really did anything but land that one punch. Things like this happen to the best of fighters (remember Wladamir Klitschko losing in two rounds to Corrie Sanders?), so it’s better to wait and see how Linares does in a rematch. We’ll know more then.
Q: Speaking of rematches, are we going to see Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez 4, or is Izzy a spent fighter at this point?
A: Judging from Vazquez’ comeback fight against Angel Priolo Saturday, it doesn’t look good right now. Although Vazquez finally got the KO in the ninth round, he took far too many punches, got cut and generally looked very rusty. Priolo had lost six fights in a row (yes, you read that right), and the Vazquez that beat Marquez and Jhonny Gonzalez would have wiped the mat with this guy. It may just be ring rust which will improve with time, but if he can’t avoid any punches, he should call it a career. Izzy is too good of a guy and respected ring warrior to sound like Meldrick Taylor in ten years.
Q: All right, on to the event everyone’s talking about: the Super Six kicks off this weekend. Who ya got?
A: Regardless which fighter I pick, the fun part of this is that anyone could win any of these fights; it’s really difficult to pick a winner. But since you put my feet to the fire, I like Arthur Abraham over Jermain Taylor by KO, Carl Froch to knockout Andre Dirrell, and in November, Andre Ward over Mikkel Kessler via upset decision. Honestly, I think Ward will be the best of the lot in five years. One thing is for certain: Whoever wins this tournament is going to end up on the P4P list, with a whole lot of cash in his pocket.
Q: What about Allan Green’s constant assertion that he belongs in the Super Six? Should he be in?
A: Well, Green had a chance to make a statement against Tarvis Simms 10 days or so ago on Shobox, and the only statement he made was that he complains a lot. To make his case, he should have steamrolled Simms, but instead, he ended up getting hit a lot en route to a lackluster victory. And for those Green supporters who say he nearly shut out Simms, ask yourself this: Could you see Abraham or Froch letting Simms hang around for ten rounds? Besides, with that performance, here’s betting that Lucien Bute’ just got a bit more interested in defending his title against Green. Green should just be happy if he gets that fight.
Q: Is there really going to be anyone paying actual money for a Hector Camacho, Jr. – Yori Boy Campas PPV?
A: Maybe the same people who bought Camacho’s old man fighting Campas earlier this year, or members of their families. Campas is so over the hill, he gets calls from Evander Holyfield telling him to hang up the gloves. Really, who in their right mind would pay for this? They should give us money to sit through this crap. What’s the venue? Camacho’s back yard? The best part of the promotion though, was Junior saying emphatically that Campas is not on his level. Hey, guess what? I’ll go on the record right now as saying that Campas is nowhere near as good at the biathlon as I am! Yeesh.
Q: Apparently Floyd Mayweather has offered the olive branch to UFC head Dana White, inviting him to dinner to bury the hatchet after their harsh words regarding each other’s sports recently. Good idea?
A. I don’t even know where to start with this one. I guess it would be amazing on some level to see two of the biggest horse’s rear ends in all of sports at one table, but that’s about it. Actually, the person I would feel sorry for the most is the waiter at the restaurant. Not only do you have to decipher what White ordered in between his constant f-words, then you have to put up with “Money” Mayweather’s tip being taken back by the IRS before you can even get your hands on it!
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