By Cliff Rold
In the biggest victory of his career to date, 27-year old Juan Manuel Lopez (30-0, 27 KO) of Caguas, Puerto Rico, made his second defense of the WBO Featherweight belt, forcing a corner surrender before the ninth round from 35-year old former IBF Bantamweight and lineal Jr. Featherweight king Rafael Marquez (39-6, 35 KO) of Mexico City, Mexico, on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. No knockdowns were suffered by either man in a violent, back and forth affair.
Both men weighed in at 125 ½, just shy of the Featherweight limit of 126 lbs.
The staredown before the opening bell was a contrast in ring perspectives, the older and more experienced Marquez standing calm and still while the younger Lopez fidgeted back and forth on his toes, anxious for the opening bell. Lopez touched only his left glove, putting just a tad of mustard behind it, before heading to his corner for the clang that would signal the bout’s opening.
With a loud chant of “Mexico” in the air, Marquez came forward as both men measured with their jabs, Lopez looking to counter from the southpaw stance. Marquez landed a couple of quick left hooks, Lopez some sharp rights over the jab of Marquez. A lead right hook pushed Marquez off balance in the final minute but the better contact would come in the last ten seconds, a pair of Lopez right hooks and a left hand shaking the veteran.
Lopez just missed with a lead right hook in the opening thirty seconds of round two, Lopez controlling the middle of the ring in the first minute. They exchanged rights near the halfway mark of the round and Lopez maneuvered Marquez to the ropes. Lopez could not keep Marquez there but dominated the final minute of the round with selective and accurate rights and long lefts.
Marquez began round three aggressively but it was Lopez, one shot at a time, landing the bulk of the telling blows in the first minute. Marquez countered Lopez with a double left hook and some rough stuff inside drew a warning to both from referee Tony Weeks. With just more than a minute to go, Lopez doubled up with lefts and sent Marquez reeling across the ring. Marquez caught his balance just before he hit the ropes, planted, and landed a right hand as Lopez charged forward. Another right and it was Lopez, briefly, with his back to the ropes as Marquez escaped to ring center. The pace, while tense, slowed in the final minute outside of a short exchange of hooks, and a counter right hooks from Lopez that, again, pushed Marquez off balance.
Lopez was in control in round four, tagging Marquez, chipping away, until the last minute of the round. The Mexican blasted Lopez with a short left hook and the titlist was in trouble. Another left was followed by a right; Lopez’s knees buckled. Marquez piled on, a right and left landing, but Lopez kept his feet and rebounded with right hook, long left, and another right. The last of them cost Lopez a point as it landed behind the head of Marquez, but the time taken for the deduction may have benefited a Lopez arguably still recovering.
Marquez stalked early in the fifth, attempting to ask with his fists whether Lopez still had cobwebs upstairs. His left eye swelling, Marquez took a right but landed one of his own and managed some sneaky left hooks throughout the second minute of the round. Wild swinging from both men marked the deliberate pace of the final minute, each loading up and ignoring a consistent jab.
Lopez found his jab in the early going of the sixth and as the round wore on the age of Marquez could be seen creeping in, his hands slower and reactions dulling. Lopez tattooed Marquez from range, the long left off the right jab being used to set up right hooks. His hands high, Lopez deflected Marquez left hooks and ripped Marquez with two fists of uppercuts, the former Bantamweight and Jr. Featherweight champion swinging with his arms in the closing seconds.
Despite brave efforts to stay competitive, the beating Marquez took in round six got worse in the first half of the seventh only for the older man to find another hole in the defenses of Lopez. A left hook to the head rocked Lopez and a left to the body froze him. It was a temporary respite as Lopez regrouped and amped up the output, Marquez taking a hellish beating along the ropes for the final thirty seconds. Only a brief break for Weeks to warn Lopez for hitting Marquez in the back bought Marquez relief.
Marquez again came out firing in the eighth, looking on the verge of having his legs just give out but never giving in to the call of the floor. In breathless action, Lopez and Marquez took turns teeing off with power shots to the admiration of the crowd. Lopez was cleaner, his shots sharper, but Marquez was only a hair behind. It would be the Mexican’s final stand.
Lopez came off his stool for round nine and looked across to see no one would be joining him at ring center. Bruised, exhausted, triumphant, Lopez collapsed in joy onto his back. Marquez and his corner indicated a problem with the right shoulder and, given the warrior track record of Marquez, there was no reason to doubt him.
It was the fifth loss inside the distance in Marquez’s career. Marquez clarified the situation of his surrender after the bout, stating through an interpreter that he’d been hurt before the fight, in training, but chose not to further postpone a fight which was originally slated for earlier in the fall. Marquez gave credit to the victor and stated he’d like a rematch.
Lopez was open to the possibility as was his promoter, Bob Arum, but with the caveat that Marquez’s shoulder must heal first. Even if it does heal, Marquez will be no younger at that time. His best chance for victory over Lopez may have passed him by Saturday night.
Arum stated the plans for Lopez going forward as an optional defense in Puerto Rico followed by a showdown next summer with a fellow undefeated titlist, Cuban WBA and IBF beltholder Yuriorkis Gamboa (19-0, 15 KO).
Youth may have been served in the main event but middle age proved to have its perks in the chief support bout of the evening.
Dropping down a division to make his first start at Super Middleweight since September 2000, 41-year old Jamaican former IBF and Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight champion Glen Johnson (51-14-2, 35 KO), 167, of Miami, Florida, exploded into the much-touted “Super Six” Super Middleweight tournament. As a replacement in the third and final preliminary round, Johnson scored an eighth round stoppage of second round replacement player, 31-year old Allan Green (29-3, 20 KO), 168, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to advance to the semi-finals.
Green wasted no time letting loose with his left hook, leading and missing wildly, Johnson responding with connecting blows to the belly. Green circled to his left, jabbing, while Johnson warmed to his typical pressuring rhythm, a right hand just missing over the shoulder of Green. Near the midway point of the first, another right appeared to hammer Green just behind the ear and another just seconds later had Green bending at the waist and holding on. Johnson ripped in some more shots to the body while Green collected himself with movement and his left jab. Green ate another right with thirty seconds to go but kept steady.
Green responded to the pressure of Johnson in round two by boxing, relaxed and smart, flurrying in spots and refusing to load up. The movement made it hard for Johnson to land cleanly and the trend continued into the third, Green showing off a snapping right behind the left jab. Just past the midway mark of the third, Johnson brought Green off his toes with a thudding rib shot but Green caught his breath. A right uppercut inside the final minute whipped Johnson’s head towards the lights and Green looked on his way to capturing a lead on the cards.
Johnson changed that with just ten second left. A right caught the temple of Green along the ropes. Johnson followed with a left to the stomach, a right and left to the head, and then another blow downstairs to leave Green out of his feet as the bell sounded. Green weaved back and forth, leaning on the ropes and struggling to sit in his stool. Green answered his corner, saying he was okay, but he blinked hard at the bell for the fourth.
Johnson walked to ring center with eyes wide open. Green was immediately on his bicycle, holding as Johnson got close, playing to clear his head. With a minute gone in the frame, referee Robert Byrd warned Green for holding but he gave the warning no heed, survival the paramount goal. Johnson ignored the grasps, hitting what was available and fighting his way out, eating or muffling the occasional Green left. In the final minute, Green showed offensive life with a short right and left hook.
Blood was drawn from the nose of Green in round five but the three minutes were otherwise good news for the younger man. His legs fully returned to him, Green used movement, quick bursts of offense, and holding to control and stymie the come forward tank in front of him. Johnson, in an awkward sixth, landed the harsher stuff in a slowly escalating assault, a right hand inside thirty seconds rocking Green and allowing the veteran to close with a flourish.
The scheduled second half of the contest opened with Johnson jumping right into the chest of Green, picking up where he had left off in the sixth. Green was trying to box but Johnson had him timed, jabbing to the chest when Green stopped to throw and landing to the head and body with accuracy and authority. Green attempted to keep up on the inside but failed to generate the leverage Johnson was on his shots, the older man always on the front foot.
Green opened the eighth with a series of pawing jabs as he moved to his left, planting suddenly and lashing out with a left hook. Johnson shrugged it off and blocked the flurry Green produced behind the hook, jabbing twice with his hands held high before dropping his own right hand flush to the ear of Green. It was a blow reminiscent of the shot that once felled Roy Jones Jr., Green collapsing onto the canvas, just missing a full-on face plant. With an expression of panic and bewilderment, Green looked up at referee Byrd and began the hard work of rising. Byrd reached the count of eight and Green could do no more than lift himself half up with his gloves still on the floor, Byrd waving the action off at 36 seconds of round eight.
Johnson embraced a still wobbling Green, the defeated staring blankly at Byrd, repeating he was fine while looking anything but. His head cleared, Green protested the stoppage further after the official announcement of the knockout. “I was fine. I could have continued. (Johnson) hit me with a good shot, kind of back there,” Green said, pointing to the back of his head, “not purposely but he caught me.” Green further expressed, based in part on ample sparring experience with Johnson in the past, that he knew enough to stay alive in the contest had he been allowed to go on.
It was not to be and the gentleman, Johnson, showed the graciousness that is part of why he has become a sentimental favorite for so many fans over the years. “Alan is a guy I love like my brother. Ever since I met him, he came down and helped me…he’s one of the best persons I’ve met in boxing.” Continuing, Johnson stated, “My only regret is that both of us could not move on in this tournament.”
With the win, Johnson scores only the second knockout of the “Super Six” and, with three points, may find himself seeded third in the semi-finals despite having missed two of the three opening rounds of the fight. He will wait for the results of the Arthur Abraham-Carl Froch fight later this month to see how the seeding of the Super Six semi-finals will play out. WBA titlist Andre Ward is slated to be the number one seed.
Johnson entered the field after WBC titlist Mikkel Kessler was forced to vacate his belt and exit the tournament due to a nagging eye injury. It was Johnson’s second knockout win of 2010, a decision loss to IBF Light Heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud sandwiched between over the summer.
The card was televised in the U.S. on premium cable outlet Showtime, promoted by Top Rank Inc., in association with PR Best Boxing, DiBella Entertainment, and Gary Shaw Promotions.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com