By Jhonny Gonzalez
There is mounting pressure on WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez to retain his title on November 6 against Rafael Marquez. The number of champions in Puerto Rico has decreased over the last year. Unbeaten champions like Roman Martinez and Ivan Calderon have been beaten. At one point there were eight champions from Puerto Rico. Now there are only three remaining with Miguel Cotto and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. as the other two.
"People stop me on the street and say, 'you're the only one we have, you have to win.' Although I know there are still three champions, the people have put a lot of in me. I don't feel the pressure. I will do my job well. I don't think the fight is going the distance, but I'm prepared to go twelve rounds," Lopez told Les Jiminez.
Juanma predicts the number of champions coming from Puerto Rico will pick back up in the next twelve months.
“At one time we had eight champions. Now we have only three, but I'm sure we will have more. For example, we hope that soon Jonathan Oquendo will fight for a world title and Victor Bisbal. And boxers that are coming up like McWilliams and McJoe Arroyo, Jonathan Gonzalez, Jose Pedraza, Camilo Perez, and others, are doing tremendous work," Lopez said.
