06.08.07 – By Jeff Bastasini: WBO Latino Super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (19-0, 16 knockouts) stopped Hugo Dianzo (31-12-1, 15 KOs) in the 10th round on Saturday at the Allstate arena in Rosemont, Illinois. Lopez, 24, a former 5-time Puerto Rican champion and 2000 Olympian, easily controlled the bout the entire time, but he failed to ignite the interest of the fans at ringside due to his lackluster effort against Dianzo.
Much of the blame, however, must rest on his opponent, 32-year-old Dianzo, who was coming off a 20-month layoff and appeared clumsy throughout, often coming head first at Lopez resulting in numerous clash of heads. One of which resulted in an ugly gash on the left side of Dianzo’s head in the second-round, which bled steadily from then until the 10th, when Lopez hit Dianzo on the gash, causing it to pour blood, prompting the referee to step in and halt the bout.
In rounds one through six, Lopez moved around the ring frequently, picking off the slower Dianzo with jabs and right hooks. When Dianzo would get in range, Lopez would briefly stand his ground and tag him with lead left hands. Dianzo, though, was able to upset his timing by twisting his torso to avoid many of his shots. For his part, Dianzo threw very few punches at all during this time, mostly following Lopez around and taking shots. The crowd hated the action because Lopez, who has a history of knocking most his opponents out early, was mostly throwing weak shots, the type that mostly make contact.
In round seven, Lopez was deducted a point for a lop blow. It hardly mattered because he’d won the previous six rounds easily. Yet, Lopez was looking increasingly frustrated with Dianzo, not knowing what to do with the guy. When Lopez did throw hard shots, they had little effect on Dianzo.
In rounds eight through ten, Lopez appeared to focus more on boxing, perhaps resigning himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to knock Dianzo out. In the eighth round, Dianzo landed a couple of shots – a rare occasion, believe me – at the end of the round and then held his hands up as if it were cause for a celebration.
Finally, in the 10th round, Lopez several combinations at the start of the round, and one of the shots, a right hand, landed square on Dianzo’s cut on the side of his head, causing a waterfall of blood to pour out of it. The referee quickly moved in and stopped the bout.