Juanma's Trainer Expects Him To Knock Mikey Garcia Out
May 27, 2013 • 11:27 AM ET
By Rey Colon
Alex Caraballo, the trainer of former two-time world champion Juan Manuel "Juanma" Lopez (33-2, 30KOs), is confident that his fighter will stop Mikey Garcia (31-0, 26KOs) on June 15th in Dallas, Texas. HBO will televise. Juanma was stopped twice by Orlando Salido, who Garcia recently destroyed to win his WBO featherweight crown.
"Garcia is young and strong puncher but the times he has fought southpaws he has not looked good. This fight will end by knockout. Mikey Garcia is tailor-made for Juanma. Juanma is super-motivated. Garcia is more skilled [than Salido], as was Steven Luevano, and you saw what happened there," Caraballo said.
Right now Lopez weighs around 137 pounds and Caraballo expects him to be at 131 by the end of the week. They will knock off the remaining pounds during fight week.
"When we get to Texas we will be very close to the weight. And the damage he had on his left cheek [from a bad fall], all that remains is a speck. It looks clean. He sparred with Nieves and looked excellent," he stated. "I repeat, Juanma is back to where he was and with plans to be champion at 130 and 135 pounds."
