By Mark Vester
Juan Manuel Lopez's 47-second demolition of Cesar Figueroa, last week in Puerto Rico, left such an impression on Felix Trinidad, that the former three-division champion called Lopez his possible successor, becoming the next icon of Puerto Rico. Trinidad says the unbeaten WBO super bantamweight champ reminded him of himself when he was coming up in the welterweight ranks.
"He reminds me a lot of myself. When I used to throw the straight punch and then the hook and the punches sent them to the canvas," Trinidad said to Primera Hora.
"I think that he will be the successor of Tito Trinidad if he keeps going in this direction. When I won the title from Maurice Blocker, I also had my first defense in Puerto Rico and I knocked out Luis Garcia in the first-round. Juanma did exactly the same. The first defense of his title won by knockout in the first-round. I expect for him to do that in many defenses."
Lopez was very humble when interviewed by the paper, and was not quick to label himself as the best fighter in the country.
"Puerto Rico has a lot of good fighters. I believe that I am one of the most charismatic. I won't dare call myself the new face of boxing [in Puerto Rico] because there are a lot of good fighters here. The fact that Miguel Cotto lost does not signify that he is not a great champion and Ivan Calderon is a great champion with 14 defenses of the title."
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