Arum, Garcia Are Not Discounting The Worth of Juanma
Jun 13, 2013 • 9:48 AM ET
By Robert Morales
When a fighter who has been a superstar takes a couple of losses, he is often quick to be written off as being on his way down. But both promoter Bob Arum and trainer Robert Garcia believe that Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico is still a very dangerous fighter, in spite of TKO losses to Orlando Salido in April 2011 and March 2012.
Perhaps that's why they spoke in cautious tones when handicapping this Saturday's featherweight title fight between Lopez and Mikey Garcia, who is trained by older brother Robert Garcia.
"Garcia has to fight a very intelligent fight because Juanma still can crack pretty good," said Arum, who promotes both fighters.
Robert Garcia seemed even more wary.
"He has two losses and they both have been from the same guy," he said of Lopez, who has won titles in the super bantamweight and featherweight divisions. "That doesn't mean he's finished. Juanma is a very dangerous opponent, so we are fighting very smart and training very hard."
"Juanma has nothing to lose. If he loses, OK, pretty much his career is done. But if he wins, he beat the best fighter in the division. So we have to be ready for the best Juanma."
