By Mark Vester
WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (24-0, 22KOs) was happy to hear that Filipino rival Gerry Penalosa (53-6-3, 36 KOs) was willing to move up in weight for an April 4 bout in Puerto Rico. Penalosa would give up his WBO bantamweight title to make the fight. The fight is slated to land on HBO.
Penalosa is close to the end of his career and Juanma wants to give him that extra push to retirement.
"I welcome him and say farewell at the same time, because if he believes that he is going to come here and beat me - he is very wrong," Lopez told Primera Hora. "Penalosa is a solid boxer and we have always wanted to fight the best, so this would be very attractive and great exposition. But, all of that does not create enough to easily remove my championship from me, and less likely in Puerto Rico."
Ivan Rivera of Puerto Rico Best Boxing, who co-promote Juanma with Top Rank, has not heard the official word on the fight. Rivera told Primera Hora that he's going to wait for a call from Top Rank with their official confirmation of Penalosa's willingness to fight.
"The biggest obstacle was the agreement for him to move up in weight. Apparently, the people at Top Rank have already approached him and he seems to have accepted," Rivera told Primera Hora. "What happens now is we sit down to square ours splits, for example, the market that will get Juanma and if the fight will be in Puerto Rico. We are interested in having it here. Still, we have to negotiate that."
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingvester@gmail.com
