By Mark Vester
Coming off his 47-second knockout of Cesar Figueroa, unbeaten WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (23-0, 21KOs) is looking to the future and hopes to land on the HBO pay-per-view undercard to Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao on December 6. On Saturday night in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, a Lopez combination flattened Figueroa. Lopez was even surprised by how quick he put Figueroa away. He wants bigger and tougher challenges.
"We expect that opponents who are stronger and greater challenges. Fighters that the public wants to see in with me," said Lopez to Primera Hora. "I didn't think it would end so soon. It was a straight punch, then a hook and he fell. Figueroa kept saying that my knockout of [Daniel] Ponce De Leon was luck. I tested that it wasn't luck."
