By Jhonny Gonzalez
Former champion Juan Manuel Lopez (31-1, 28KOs) received words of encouragement from two of the biggest stars in Puerto Rico, Felix 'Tito' Trinidad and Miguel Cotto. Lopez is training for his March 10th rematch with WBO featherweight king Orlando Salido (37-11-2, 25KOs). Last April, a shocking upset took place when Salido stopped Juanma in eight rounds.
"Tito Trinidad and Miguel Cotto told not to worry [about the loss], and that I have to demonstrate to the public that I simply had a bad night [with Salido]. Salido is a fighter who beat me and I have to deal with [that fact]. Boxing is a sport where you are only as good as [your last fight]. I wasn't focused in that fight and Salido took advantage of that," Juanma told Carlos Gonzalez.
For this training period, Juanma stayed away from the press and secluded himself in training camp. In the past, Juanma's main motivation was making good money to provide for his family, but that has now changed with Salido.
"What motivated me [in past fights] was that I had to make good money to support my family. Today I have a different motivation for this fight [against Salido]. It's been a long time since I felt such a desire to have a fight and I am overjoyed that it will be against Salido again. [This fight] is for me. We want to prove to a lot of people, to the promoter and the public and the WBO, that I had a bad night and I will be world champion again for a long time," Juanma said.
