JuanMa Lopez-R.Marquez moved to Nov 6

Juan Manuel Lopez will defend his WBO featherweight championship against Rafael Marquez on November 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The fight was originally scheduled for September 18th but had to be postponed due to Marquez injuring his thumb by apparently closing it in the door/boot of a car.

“Fortunately, my thumb injury did not prevent me from continuing my conditioning, including running daily,” said Marquez, “I am extremely grateful that my fight with Juan Manuel Lopez was rescheduled so quickly. On November 6, JuanMa and I have a date with destiny. I can’t wait.”

“I’m looking forward to showing my skills against a great champion like Rafael Marquez, one of the all-time greats and a future Hall of Famer,’’ said Lopez. “It will be the biggest fight of my career.”

He’s not wrong there.

Marquez is a skilled and wily veteran who has had the kind of longevity that Lopez will hope to have. His four fights with Israel Vazquez however may have taken their toll on Marquez who won two of their four meetings with both his victories coming from pin point punches tearing up the face and eyes of Vazquez.

In their second fight Vazquez stopped Marquez though in brutal fashion similar to the way Margarito beat down Cotto in the same venue that Lopez and Marquez will square off in November.

Let’s hope their fight will be a candidate for fight of the year honors to rival the epic war that took place last Saturday between then unbeaten champion Ivan Calderon and Giovanni Segura.

This year has not been a great one for fans of the sweet science but I believe this fight will be epic whatever happens there is almost no way this fight could disappoint unless something unforseen happens like an accidental clash of heads early on which is a possibility as Lopez is a southpaw and Marquez is orthodox.

Expect blood, guts and extreme courage to be on display here as Marquez will attempt to win another title against possibly the most dangerous opponent he could encounter at this stage in his career. Lopez is young, strong and hungry to become a star and join the list of Puerto Rican legends such as Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto.

Lopez has not been tested as of yet in his career he has come up against some good quality fighters but none on the level of Marquez. Let’s not forget also that the limited Rogers Mtagwa took Lopez to the brink not long ago, Lopez however has looked very comfortable at his new weight in his last two fights disposing of Steve Luevano in seven rounds to take the title then he ran through Bernabe Conception after being dropped in the first round. Both boxers went down in the first before Lopez ended it in the very next round.

Lopez’s power is very real and Marquez has already been in one to many wars he may wilt under the pressure of Lopez who is relentless in his attack but can sometimes get careless also when he thinks he has his man hurt.

The fight airs on Showtime at 9pm ET and is one not to be missed.

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