The Boxing Weekend: Juan Manuel Lopez Vs Rafael Marquez Headlines
By Geno McGaheeFriday
SHOBOX
Fargo, North Dakota
This Friday on Showtime’s hit series SHOBOX, we will see rising super middleweight Edwin Rodriguez, 16-0, 12 KO’s, as he takes on James McGirt, JR., 22-2-1, 11 KO’s, in a 10 round contest.
Rodriguez is out of Worcester, Massachusetts, and has fought a great deal of his fights there. The majority of his early career has been the trampling of mediocrities and that term is a kind one. He recently fought a 17-2, Kevin Engel, and won, but Engel’s record was deceptive as well, as he built his career on no-hopers. This Friday, Rodriguez takes on a real threat.
McGirt, JR., the son of James “Buddy” McGirt, SR., has fought some decent opposition and knows how to use his boxing skills and reach to control a fight. He has put together three straight wins since a close decision loss to Angel Hernandez and has appeared on SHOBOX many times, typically featured as the main event and winning. He wants to keep the trend alive Friday night.
Showtime
Las Vegas, Nevada
We have quite the double header on our hands thanks to Showtime Saturday night. The main event is a war between Juan Manuel Lopez, 29-0, 26 KO’s, as he defends his WBO Featherweight Title against the highly skilled and hard punching veteran, Rafael Marquez, 39-5, 35 KO’s.
Lopez was seen as a force of nature as he destroyed all of his opposition with ease. He starched Daniel Ponce de Leon in one round on HBO and quickly began filling the gap that was left behind by Felix Trinidad as the most exiting fighter to come out of Puerto Rico. With power in both hands and easy destructions of talented fighters, he was seen as nearly unbeatable, until he ran into the unheralded Roger Mtagwa. Lopez was nearly stopped in the final round and eked by with a close decision. He came back with a stoppage of Steve Luevano (TKO-7) and an early win over Bernabe Concepcion (TKO-2).
In the Concepcion fight, Lopez was down in the first round. Like many power-punchers, they tend to not take it on the chin well, but like Trinidad before him, Lopez arose to win by stoppage. The possible weak chin will be a target for Marquez.
Marquez is 35 years old and is forever linked with Israel Vazquez, a man that he has fought four times. Four of his last five fights were against him, and they went 2-2. In their last encounter, Marquez battered a shot Vazquez, bloodying him up and forcing the referee to call a halt to it in the third round. As impressive as it was, the question must be asked: “What does Marquez have left?”
If he is 80% of the fighter he once was, Lopez is in for a very tough night and I think we can bank on that. If Lopez blows away the grizzled veteran early, it will send a message to boxing and re-establish himself as one of the big stars in boxing.
The supporting bout is very interesting. It takes place as part of the Showtime Super Six, between Allan Green, 29-2, 20 KO’s, and Glen Johnson, 50-14-2, 34 KO’s. Both men are replacements in the tournament and both men are not seen as legitimate threats to win it. Green lost badly to Andre Ward and Johnson is well beyond his better years and coming down in weight at this stage may not be a good thing.
Green has a world of potential but didn’t show any of it through 12 rounds with Ward, and if he shows up like that Saturday night, Johnson will get the knockout victory, which may be the most likely scenario. What goes in the favor of Green is that he won’t have to look for Johnson and his style isn’t as difficult as Ward’s. He will land and if he lands, he has the chance to win by TKO, but not too many have been able to claim a stoppage win over the “Road Warrior.” Expect some fireworks and fun from both fights.
HBO
Newark, New Jersey
HBO will present the return of Zab Judah, 39-6, 27 KO’s, as he tries to once again rule the light welterweight division. Across the ring from him in this title eliminator is Lucas Martin Matthysse, 27-0, 25 KO’s.
Judah has faced everyone, but typically comes up short. He is, arguably, the man that gave Floyd Mayweather, JR., the most trouble he’s ever had in the ring, knocking him down but fading late and losing a decision. He fought Miguel Cotto (L-TKO-11), Joshua Clottey (L-TD-9), Kostya Tszyu (L-TKO-2), and many more. He has faced a lot of stiff opposition, with his biggest win being a stoppage of Cory Spinks to capture the welterweight title in 2005.
Judah, a powerful and stylish southpaw had all the makings of an elite fighter but his lack of focus cost him in his big outings. With three straight wins since his loss to Clottey, the 33 year old former champ plans to revive his career and defeat a current hot prospect.
When you look at the record of Matthysse, only one name stands out and that is Vivian Harris, a man that he stopped in 4 rounds. Two things stand out in that fight. The first is that Harris was a spent force and was hurt with regularity by the power-punching Argentinean, and two, the fight was stopped incredibly early…one of the worst stoppages in the history of boxing. It robbed Matthysse of the clean win over a name opponent that he wanted. Here’s another chance.
Out of the six defeats, Judah has only been stopped twice. He was stopped by Cotto and by Tszyu. He can be hit and hurt but he knows how to survive and he packs one heck of a punch. He will be driving that straight left home on Saturday night and we’ll have to see how Matthysse can handle it and we’ll also see how Judah handles the aggression and power of the undefeated opponent he’s tangling with. It’s a crossroads fight and a very interesting one.
The supporting bout has Robert Guerrero, 27-1-1, 18 KO’s, taking on Vicente Escobedo, 22-2, 14 KO’s, in a 10 round super featherweight bout.