Posts Tagged ‘Juan Manuel Lopez’

Bakers Dozen (Thirteen things I know, that you should know too)

Posted: November 11, 2010 in Boxing, Browns, Buckeyes, Cavaliers, Football, Indians, Soccer, Vikings
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1.  Colt McCoy will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the year, barring injury.  I know, I know, this is a gimee.  Bottom line is this, McCoy gives the Cleveland Browns a better chance to win on Sunday’s than either Jake Delhomme or Seneca Wallace.  No way I thought I would say this at the beginning of the season.  Plus, hopefully, the TV camera’s will show his wife on the screen some more:

All she needs is a kids sized McCoy Jersey!

2.  Despite the Cavaliers starting the season relatively well, they won’t win 40 games.  Look at the roster folks.  They just don’t have enough talented players to compete night in and night out in the NBA.  Outside of JJ and Andy, name me one other player that really jumps out at you…..I’m still waiting.

3.  Juan Manuel Lopez wouldn’t stand a chance against Rafael Marquez if they were both in their prime.  Lopez was able to stop Marquez last Saturday, but Marquez is an “old” 35 in boxing years.  He’s been in some wars, and he still was able to land some remarkable shots on Lopez, who is in his prime as I write this.  As good as Lopez is, Marquez was GREAT!

4.  The Ohio State football Buckeyes will be going to another BCS Bowl this season.  They have three games left, Penn State in C-Bus, at Iowa, and SCum in C-Bus.  Penn State doesn’t stand a chance.  Just not a good team this year.  The Hawkeyes will give the Bucks a game, but TP2 will be the difference, and SCum, well, let me think.  All I have to say is it’s been 2,545 days since that team has beaten my beloved Buckeyes.  ‘Nuff said.

5.  The Cleveland State Vikings will be a force to be reckoned with in the Horizon League this season.  I cannot wait to see this team in action come conference time.  Head Coach Gary Waters has an incredible basketball IQ, and when DeAundrey “I Hustle like Andy Varejao” Brown comes back from injury, the Vikings will have all five starters back from last seasons squad.

6.  Tobogganing and sledding at Progressive Field this winter with my kids will give me fonder memories then the Cleveland Indians did with their AAA brand of baseball.  It’s truly horrendous what has happened to my baseball team.  Damn you Larry Dolan.  Damn you.

7.  Jared Sullinger better watch his weight or he might end up like Robert “Tractor” Traylor.  Remember when “Tractor” was supposed to take over college basketball?  I do.  Then I saw this fat, sloppy looking dope on the court and thought, “what the hell is that?”  He looked like a black Pillsbury doughboy.  And I’m being nice to Mr. Pillsbury. 

Is this how Sullinger wants to end up looking like?

8.  If you like pasta as much as I do, find an Italian and have them show you how to make real sauce.  Thanks to my brother-in-law, who has just enough “Pizon” left in him to know what he is doing in the kitchen; I will now be overweight for the rest of my life.  I really don’t care.  What can I say?  I LOVE to eat.

9.  Eric Mangini is a legit coach.  You don’t end up on Bill Belichick’s coaching staff by accident people.  As long as he can get NFL players to buy into his “team” coaching concepts, this guy will win.  He was unjustly fired by the Jets, and on Sunday, they will feel his wrath.

10.  Manny Pacquiao is going to dominate Antonio Margacheato on Saturday.  I don’t care how big Margacheato is, do people realize that he has done nothing in the last 24 months to justify him getting into the ring with the most explosive man in boxing?  The last time Margacheato was declared a winner against a legit opponent was in July of 2008, when he and his plaster loaded gloves knocked out Miguel Cotto.  Oh wait, allegedly plaster loaded gloves.  SMDH.

11.   The NBA is pure garbage, outside of a few big matchups, before March.  Don’t waste your time trying to figure out how teams are going to pan out right now, it simply isn’t worth it.  The teams that belong in the playoffs, will be in the playoffs, and the players will really start playing as the season wears down.

12.  Major League Baseball gives out gold gloves like the WBC gives out boxing belts.  This is not good news.  Derek Jeter a gold glover?  Really?  Really…..? 

13.  Lionel Messi will turn you into a soccer fan if you give him a chance.  Trust me.

Featured Fight of the Week

Posted: November 6, 2010 in Boxing
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Two of the top ten featherweights will battle as Ring Magazine #2 rated Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez goes up against Ring Magazine #9 rated Rafael Marquez

Juan Manuel Lopez                                                                                        Rafael Marquez

29-0, 26 KO’s                                                                      VS.                              39-5, 35 KO’s

5’7, 125 ½ pounds, 27 yrs. old                                                                        5’5, 125 ½ pounds, 35 yrs. old

Caguas, Puerto Rico                                                                                               Mexico City, Mexico

Strengths:                                                                                                               Strengths:

Southpaw Style                                                                                                         Counterpunching ability

Aggressiveness                                                                                                         Punching power

One punch punching power                                                                                 Experience

Weaknesses:                                                                                                           Weaknesses:

Suspect chin                                                                                                                Age       

Stamina                                                                                                                          Been in ring wars

  • Lopez is coming off a 2nd round Knockout over Bernabe Concepcion in July.  16 of his last 17 fights have ended early.
  • Marquez is coming off a 3rd round knockout over Israel Vazquez in May.  That was the fourth and most likely last fight between those two warriors.

This fight has been talked about since it was agreed upon.  Lopez, who moved up from Jr. Featherweight two fights ago, is a bona fide star on the rise in the sport.  The main knock on Lopez is his chin, which has been questioned in his recent fights, but despite the knockdowns, he has shown the ability to get up from the canvas and finish strong, like his idol and fellow Puerto Rican great, Felix “Tito” Trinidad.  Lopez’s biggest scare came against Rogers Mtagwa last October, when he was in grave danger late in the fight.  It’s safe to say that if the days of 15 round fights were still here, Lopez would not have an unblemished record.  Marquez is an all time great warrior that proved he still had some gas left in his tank after his destruction of rival Israel Vazquez.  Before the first of his epic four fight showdown with Vazquez, he had gone over seven years without a loss and was among the pound for pound elite.  At 35 years old, Vazquez isn’t as fast, furious, and good as he once was, but he still has the experience and has been in against the best. 

Despite both guys being in the top 10, I feel they are going in opposite directions.  Lopez up, Marquez down.  Lopez is the younger, stronger, and at this point hungrier fighter.  The ring wars that Marquez was in with Vazquez and his end result will suit him fine against opponents like Jose Mendoza, but when going up against a featherweight in the prime of his career, like Lopez, I don’t think it’s a good thing.  Fights like those shorten careers, and I’m not sure how much longer Marquez will be in the elite level that he has been for so long.  I think Marquez’s counterpunch ability will fluster Lopez a little in the beginning, but after the first three rounds, I think Lopez will begin to take over convincingly.  I see Lopez stopping Marquez in six rounds, setting up a huge showdown with Ring Magazine #3 featherweight and fellow unbeaten Yuriorkis Gamboa.