Juanma: If There is a KO, It Will Be Garcia Getting KO'd

By Ryan Burton

Former two division champion Juan Manuel Lopez is just over two weeks away from his fight against WBO featherweight champion Mikey Garcia. The fight takes place in Dallas, Texas and will be televised by HBO.

Garcia picked up his title in January with a dominant technical decision victory over Orlando Salido. The fight was stopped early due to Garcia suffering a broken nose from an accidental head butt.

Lopez spoke to us about the fight earlier this week on BoxingScene Radio. One would think that Juanma would target Garcia's nose to test out how well it has healed but Lopez insisted that wasn't part of his game plan. 

"I'm not going to focus on that. If I land a punch there then it happens but it isn't something that we are going to focus on," Lopez advised.

The Puerto Rican is battle tested after facing the likes of Orlando Salido, Rafael Marquez and Gerry Peñalosa.  Garcia can't match Juanma's experience level and hasn't faced a fighter with Lopez's power. While Lopez feels his power is a definite advantage, he said that he is going to try to win every round of the fight.

"I don't want to concentrate on my power. We are going to try to win the fight round for round but if a knockout happens I think it will be me knocking him out and not the other way around," Lopez said while also saying he will be curious to see how Garcia reacts to the pressure of his first title defense.

"I don't want to be over confident going in. The public seems to think he will win so we will see how he reacts to the pressure."

Lopez finished our conversation by saying that he feels the fight will be fan friendly and urged the fans to tune in while predicting that he will leave the ring with his hand raised.  

"It is going to be a great fight. Don't miss the fight as it will an action fight and I will be a champion again on June 15th," Lopez concluded.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety by clicking here: http://tobtr.com/s/4767529

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com . Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to BoxingScene Radio, BoxingScene's official audio on Tuesdays from 6-8PM PST. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton