Puerto Rico has a proud tradition of great fighters. At the top, names like Sixto Escobar Jose Chegui Torres, Wilfred Benitez, Wilfredo Gomez, Alfredo Escalera, Wilfredo Vazquez, Esteban DeJesus, Carlos DeLeon, Carlos Ortiz, Edwin Rosario, Hector Camacho, Felix Trinidad, resonate and now Miguel Cotto is making his claim to boxing greatness. Given the size Puerto Rico, the pantheon of its champions is disproportionately staggering

Now, a new name is out there and many are saying he might be the next in the line of Campeones De Gran. He is Super bantamweight Juan Manuel "Juanma" Lopez, 19-0- with 17 KOs and a KO percentage of 95%. As an amateur, he represented Puerto Rico at the 2004 summer Olympics.

In June 2007, he iced Brazilian Giovanni “Sugar” Andrade, 56-11 with 46 Kos, in one round in San Juan. He then traveled to Chicago and fought Mexican Hugo “Canelito” Dianzo, 31-12-1, and won when the fight was stopped at the end of ten because of a cut on Canelito’s scalp. The fight was more competitive than anticipated and Lopez was rocked on more than one occasion by the Mexican’s shots. Still, when the dust settled, he was the winner but some of the luster had come off.

Some are calling for a Lopez vs. Daniel Ponce de León but off his recent fight with Dianzo, I’d say that was premature….very premature. But make no mistake, Lopez, a southpaw with speed, poise, balance, intelligence and charisma, seems to have it all — he can box, punch, move or stand and fight. He needs two or three more step-up fights before he thinks about a monster like Ponce De Leon. A match up with undefeated Abner Mares might make far more sense.

While I am not quite ready to anoint the undefeated Puerto Rican (who is already ranked at number three by the WBO), as the next great professional boxer from Puerto Rico, I will quickly jump aboard his bandwagon if he continues to fight and win as often as he has been doing.

You know, aside from the fact that Calzaghe and Kessler are actually signed to fight, Juan Manuel Marquez not being a full blown star at this point is probably what has surprised me most about boxing in 2007. The kid is a full blown animal in my opinion, and I know it's high praise for a prospect, but I've got little doubt that he'll be alongside those great names as one of the legends in Puerto Rico.

He's aggressive, he's lightning quick, punches almost solely in combinations, works outside - in and inside - out all the same and he is going to ice a lot of people with that left hand of his. He can throw it straight or can time it with an uppercut. He can lead with it from the outside, can throw it real short on the inside or he can put it after the right hook. That's when I think it's at it's deadliest.

He does get hit a bit coming forward and he has been rocked but that's the norm for these Puerto Rican fighters anyways. I think 2008 is his year.

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Amat, I think you have the beat.

The kids got the goods mos def. but he still has some road to cover, I hope in his next fight they set him up well and not over match him.
He should be fighting someone like Ricardo Castillo or Julio Zarate.


Incase you or someone else here missed the Lopez vs. Andrade fight here it is I uploaded it to YouTube myself.

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~We were born Champions~

CC Ted. You certainly know your boxing.


As for Juanma Lopez, I saw him fight live once, and was truly impressed with the guy. As you say, he's got the tools. But I also think he needs to have a few more fights under his belt before they throw him in with someone like Ponce de Leon.

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Puerto Rico: #1 per capita in boxing world champions.

he is going to be the next best thing out there.
after 1 or 2 more bouts he will be able to go out and hang with the best in the division.
a bout with Bautista will be good to start off with.
there are so many good fighters in the division to match him up against like
Vasquez, Marquez, De Leon, Caballero, underfeated Steve Molitor, Kiko Martinez and Mike Oliver just to name a few and no doubt that with time and good match making he can beat them all IMHO.

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Pride of Puerto Rico
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I was quite impressed with Juanma the few times I have seen him. He reminds me of a mini Cotto at times,with his patient stalking,flicking out the jab! However,it would be a huge mistake to throw him in with Ponce at this time,Daniel would savage him imo,just like he did to Bautista!

thanks, mate

I've cooled on him a bit, maybe not quite the absolute can't miss type prospect I thought he was but he's still a good prospect no doubt and looks like he'll be a guy that could be a world champ one of these days.

Lopez already is the next best thing out of Puerto Rico. After all, there is no other Puerto Rican of prominence out there at the moment, though the future is incredibly bright as will be displayed in the Beijing Olympics by the Arroyo brothers and Abner Cotto, Miguel's cousin. There is also Jesus Rojas, a current undefeated prospect who might eventually be better than Cotto and Lopez! As for Lopez, the best part about him is that he fights for Arum, who is developing Lopez in classic fashion as he did de la Hoya and Cotto. 2008 will be the year Lopez establishes himself in the boxing fan's consciousness.

I like him a lot, would definatley like to see him in with some bigger named fighters at this point though.

Yes, I agree. Time to step up.