By Miguel Rivera, photo by GFR Media
As BoxingScene.com first reported on Monday, the Boxing Commission of Puerto Rico suspended former world champion Juan Manuel 'Juanma' Lopez and trainer Albert Rivera for their post-fight brawl which took place this past Saturday night after Juanma had knocked out Rivera's fighter, former champion Wilfredo 'Papito' Vazquez Jr.
Juan Cartagena, who is the executive director of the Boxing Commission of Puerto Rico, confirmed their suspensions and said both fighters would remain on the shelf until a hearing is held to review the incident. There were fines already issued with Juanma getting fined $1,000 while Rivera was fined $500.
The incident took place after the stoppage was called by the referee in the eleventh round at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan. Their fight headlined an independent pay-per-view event.
After the fight was over, Rivera stepped inside the ring and Juanma came over to confront him. As that happened the trainer clocked him with a left hook and a full brawl broke out between the two of them.
Their respective teams jumped in to separate them as a very heated crowd began to pelt the ring with bottles and ice. Juanma eventually took the microphone and called for calm, pleading with the audience to remember that there were a lot of children present - including his own - in the arena.
"It was a mistake on our part. Both of us are athletes and we should not to give that type of example to the youth," Juanma, who was sporting a bruised eye from the brawl, told Carlos Gonzalez.
"It was definitely something that happened in the heat of adrenaline. I want to apologize to both the public and the Commission at the same time. That is not my way of being and everyone knows it. I recognize that I got out of control, but it was on both sides. I approached where he was, and he throws a punch at me and I defended myself."
Cartagena said - "The time of the suspensions are not defined until the statements are made. Both have 10 days after the notifications to request a hearing. Otherwise, a suspension imposed by the members of the Commission will be determined. It was not a pleasant situation to have a coach (Rivera) attack (Lopez) with his fists, without gloves. It is very dangerous."
This is not the first time that Juanma has been sanctioned by the local commission over an incident which took place immediately after a fight.
In April 2012, Lopez was suspended for one year, fined $10,000 and ordered to complete 100 hours of community work by the local commission after branding referee Roberto Ramirez as a degenerate gambler in a post-fight interview, which took place after Juanma's TKO defeat to Orlando Salido on March 10 of that year. Juanma was trying to allege that Ramirez stopped the fight at a certain point as part of a wager he placed on the fight. The boxer would later apologize to the official, who filed a lawsuit for damages later on.
