By Mark Vester
For the moment, WBO super bantamweight champ Juan Manuel Lopez is not interested in a unification bout with IBF/WBA champion Celestino Caballero, who thrashed previously unbeaten Steve Molitor in four rounds to unify the titles last Friday in Canada. Juanma will appear on the undercard to Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao on December 6, defending his title against Sergio Medina.
If the Medina bout plays out as predicted, he plans to fight three times in 2009. He will make a mandatory defense in March, then wants a unification bout with WBC champ Israel Vazquez in June, and then he wants to finish off the year against Rafael Marquez in either November or December. Juanma is not in a hurry to unify, he wants to knock off the two biggest names at the weight - Vazquez and Marquez.
"If everything goes well with Medina, the plan is to fight in March of 2009, then look for Israel Vazquez in June. I don't see myself fighting Caballero. We want Vazquez for the summer in Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade. We are going to take things step by step. If we beat Vazquez, the next logical move would be to fight Rafael Marquez in November or December," Lopez told Primera Hora.
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