Garcia 139.75, Herrera 139.25: Weights

WBA light welterweight champion Danny Garcia made weight on Friday for his title defense against Mauricio Herrera on Saturday night in Puerto Rico. Garcia is hoping to impress the Puerto Rican fans, many of which won’t be coming to the fight to see him.

They’ll be coming to see the undercard match-up between Juan Manuel Lopez and Daniel Ponce De Leon. Golden Boy Promotions chose Herrera for Garcia to fight in order to give Garcia a better chance of looking good than if he were to face someone that he’d have to struggle a little to beat. The idea here is to try and turn Danny into another Miguel Cotto type of attraction in Puerto Rico.

Juan Manuel Lopez-Daniel Ponce De Leon to clash in rematch on Garcia-Herrera card in Puerto Rico

A very interesting and potentially explosive card is all set to go down in Puerto Rico on March 15th. Topping the bill will be light-welterweight champ Danny Garcia, defending his Ring Magazine and WBA/WBC 140-pound belts against tough Mexican Mauricio Herrera. Also on the card will be the heavyweight meeting between puncher Deontay Wilder and boxer Malik Scott.

Both these fights intrigue, yet the third fight confirmed for the card caught my eye. Remember back in the summer of 2008, when an unbeaten 25-year-old “Juanma” Lopez blasted onto the world stage with a bang in the form of a 1st-round KO over Mexico’s Daniel Ponce De Leon? Lopez of Puerto Rico snatched the WBO super-bantamweight belt with the win and superstardom seemed to be in his future. Things didn’t quite work out that way for the southpaw slugger, even if he did thrill millions of fans in his subsequent fights.

Rafael: Juanma is shot now; he’s a shell

lopez443 Dan Rafael of ESPN thinks former two division world champion Juan Manuel Lopez (33-3, 30 KO’s) is over-the-hill and not the same fighter he once was following his 4th round TKO loss to Mikey Garcia (32-0, 27 KO’s) last Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Juanma was knocked down two times in the process of getting stopped by the 25-year-old Mikey.

Rafael said on his twitter “Juanma has been as exciting as anyone in recent years, but the wars took their toll. He’s all shot now. That is obvious. He’s a shell…amazing that at one time Lopez-Gamboa was really a hot fight, until [Bob] Arum over-marinated it.”

Mikey Garcia destroys Lopez; Crawford stops Sanabria

Mikey Garcia (32-0, 27 KO’s) put on a jabbing and counter-punching clinic in destroying a once good fighter Juan Manuel Lopez (33-3, 30 KO’s) by a 4th round TKO tonight at the American Airlines Center, in Dallas, Texas, USA. Mikey, 25, knocked Juanma down twice in the fight, once in the 2nd from a right hand, and a final time in the 4th with a tremendous left hook. Official time of stoppage was 1:35.

Mikey Garcia made a statement in his last fight when he disarmed tough as nails pressure fighter Orlando Salido from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on January 19th. The same Orlando Salido that took Juan Manuel Lopez’s “0” in a battle of Mexico vs. Puerto Rico in 2011 and followed that performance up just short of 11 months later with another TKO victory. Which Juanma will show up to the ring this Saturday for his fight versus unbeaten Mikey Garcia at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas?

Bob Arum had to have a tear in his eye the night of April 16th 2011. One of his prized pupils from Puerto Rico had his boxing heart ripped out of his chest, in what was a nightmare scenario to any Puerto Rican boxing fan, by the hands of a Mexican fighter. Yeah Bob Arum made money that night and the fight set up a rematch that also filled the Top Rank coffers. Fight fans were happy with the war that added to yet another classic installment to the Puerto Rico vs. Mexico rivalry. But deep down inside Arum had to feel the pain Lopez felt in his boxing soul, only it wasn’t his soul but a hole he felt in his deep pockets considering what was at stake that night.

Mikey Garcia vs. Juan Manuel Lopez this Saturday, June 15th in Dallas, Texas

lopez-marquez5 Former two division world champion Juan Manuel Lopez (33-2, 30 KO’s) could be the sacrificial lamb for WBO featherweight champion Mikey Garcia (31-0, 26 KO’s) to slaughter this Saturday, June 15th at the American Airlines Center, in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Although anything is possible for this fight, it just looks like Juanma will be the lamb being brought into slaughter for the young, 25-year-old Mikey to tear apart to add a name to his resume. Lopez isn’t that much older than Mikey at 29, but he’s had a lot of hard fights and he’s lost two out of his last five fights.