By Mark Vester
WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (22-0, 20KOs) plans to punish his October 4 opponent, Cesar Figueroa (30-6-2, 22KOs) of Mexico, when they go to war in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
Juanma admits that he ate a bit too much and rose up in weight that he needed to work off in the gym. Last week he was 126-pounds, only four-pounds above the weight limit, but his weight jumped after a few days to 135. He says weight will not be an issue.
"I arrived today (Thursday) to the gym was only nine-pounds over (131) and we are already playing with the weight. The question of weight, it has never been a problem and this time it wont be a problem either," Lopez told Primera Hora.
After several sparring encounters, Lopez said he would go on a six-mile run. The toughest part of camp is starting to come to a close as the October fight nears. He planes to put Figueroa away before six, while the Mexican challenger has predicted a knockout in ten.
"It's already the last week of the toughest part of training, and then we begin the cool down process as we look at the fight ahead," Lopez said. "Figueroa said that he's going to knock out me in ten-rounds, but I do not believe that he'll make it to the sixth. We are preparing as usual for whatever comes. All of the others opponents, I've dominated them and this is going to be no exception."
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