Juan Lazcano\’s Second Chance

It was a little more than a year ago when Juan Lazcano finally saw the opportunity that he’d been working for so long to earn. The Sacramento man was riding a streak of 19 straight victories going back to 1998 and had

just dusted off respected former world champion Stevie Johnston in his most recent outing. The occasion was a chance to fight for the vacant WBC Lightweight title but Lazcano would have to prove to be the better of perhaps the toughest opponent in the division, Jose Luis Castillo. For twelve hard rounds the two proud men traded punches and gave their all with Castillo gaining the advantage late in the bout. When the smoke cleared at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas it was Castillo who found his hand raised and Juan Lazcano retreated to California to recover from the tremendous battle he had just taken part in.

Now the 30 year old has an excellent chance to begin his comeback as Lazcano will headline Telefutura’s popular “Solo Boxeo” program tonight in a ten rounder against Marco Angel Perez, 21-7 (14), in El Paso, Texas. Over the last two years Perez has suffered losses at the hands of Humberto Soto, Luisito Espinosa, Miguel Huerta and most recently to ex-IBF champ Julio Diaz in June. The man born in Culiacan, Mexico is no pushover however as he’s gotten past some very tough competition during that time such as Ubaldo Hernadez and Yoni Vargas.

Should Lazcano deliver the goods as is generally expected, a title shot could once again come up for “The Hispanic Causing Panic” and this time a wiser, more experienced Juan Lazcano could emerge and break through to achieve his lifelong ambition to win a legitiamte world title.

Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com