Juan Manuel Lopez vs Rafa Marquez* Fight of the Year?

I dont think the 4th fight with vazquez was a good enough yardstick as to where Rafa is at this moment, i think Juanma will just take it in a close fight

 

Cheers mate.

 

Nah, it's entirely fair, mate. We hardly heard any of the weight issue excuses until after the fight with Mtagwa; when he was knocking poeple over with ease, Lopez didn't ever say '**** me, I'm performing so well considering I'm weight drained and all'. One more round and Mtagwa would have won the fight and that, in the eloquent words of Buncey, is a fact. I'll also point out that I never discredited the guy either, in fact I gave the guy huge credit for his last two wins. The fact remains that prior to that, Mtagwa had him hurt and Lopez was ****ed at the end of their fight.

The truth of the matter is Lopez panics when people fight back and he leaves himself wide open. Rafa has the style to pick him apart. As I said before, if Lopez wins this then he deserves huge credit.

 

as stated it will purely depend on what Marquez has left, I wouldn't be surprised if Lopez can force a stoppage.

the Mtagwa fight showed that Lopez has guts and heart even though he was punched out by the last round.

If he gasses again against Marquez then who knows, I like Marquez but ultimately I want Lopez to win in the hope that the Gamboa fight can be made (providing he beats Salido) and get the unification match.

Saying that though I still wouldn't be disappointed if Marquez pulls it off and truly cements his legacy.

 

Lopez by knockut but it will be exciting while it lasts.

 

I hate people saying that. It's as irrelevant as the "if it had been a 15 round fight..." There were 12 rounds and Lopez won the majority of them until he gassed.

Of course no one says about the weight when they're winning, but it doesn't mean it isn't a factor. The fact he moved up immediately after that fight and beat the far superior Luevano says it all to me.

Mtgawa fighting the fight of his life (and still losing since some people think that coming on strong at the end is some sort of moral victory) should be given the credit it's due. He gave a great performance and Lopez had blown his wad early in the fight.

Marquez isn't the fighter he used to be. I'd be astonished if he wins anything but a close decision. I see Lopez knocking him out in the late rounds.

 

x2.

Whilst tough as Hell, Rafa can be hurt too. I just think JuanMa's lack of defence causes him to smother his own work at times and scrap it out, and I think Rafa is just the harder of the two and will take him out.

Then again, he probably shouldn't be up at Feather, isn't exactly fresh (been fairly inactive, Izzy was shot to bits in their 4th encounter) and isn't defensively orientated or hard to hit.

A true 50-50 in my head at the mo', one of the best matchups to have been made so far this year.

If only Gamboa would fight either John/Caballero, this year could really get interesting then :yep

 

Arum is reluctant to put Gamboa in with Caballero and seems to be sticking with the fringe guys whilst eyeing up ''the perfect time'' for Gamboa vs Lopez.

I'd put Gamboa in with any of the other feathers right now, the John fight would be great :yep

You could have Gamboa vs John in a WBA unification fight patsch) and Lopez vs Marquez mini tourney, the winners facing each other.

Would love to see Gamboa vs Rafa :yep

 

Pretty much how I see it mate. I think Marquez will have his moments in the first 4-5 rounds then I see Lopez gradually wearing him down before stopping Rafa somewhere around the 10th round.

Please, please Sky pick this up. :bbb:bbb

 

Marquez isnt what he once was. He was poor in his comeback fight and was up against a spent Vasquez last time. I think the trilogy took too much out of him and Juanma is catching him at the right time. Lopez tko.

 

So what you're saying is the excuse meant more than Lopez' performance? If it was a 'factor' then he should never have taken the fight in the first place. As I said, it's funny how it was never a problem when he was knocking people over with relative ease. Stop making assumptions as well; I never said Mtagwa left the fight with a 'moral victory' at all, and you've put Mtagwa's performance down to something as simple as him having 'the fight of his life' rather than accept that he caused Lopez all sorts of problems as a result of fighting back and standing up and not rolling over. He found the openings and should get his props for doing so. Let's also not forget that Concepcion also didn't have a problem finding Lopez before he was stopped; should we now assume that Lopez' lack of defence at Feather means he should move up to Super Feather? Maybe that will cure the problems in his game?

Bottom line is I love watching Lopez as he's always in exciting fights. But I'm under no illusions about his ability and he does have holes in his game. I, and judging by the results of this poll thus far a fair few others, believe Rafa Marquez has the style to beat 'Juanma'. Time will tell. Awesome fight, though, and once again I say if Lopez wins this fight he deserves huge credit:good.

 

Any news on the undercard? WTF is Ishy when you need him? Rob, work your magic, son:good.

 

Not sold on Lopez, personally. At all.

But that doesn't mean he can't/won't win this fight. The weight and age gap should prove decisive. Lopez pts, with Marquez on the back foot for the second half of the fight.

 

Gotta go with Lopez.

Rafa's only getting this fight cos Israel had slightly less left in the tank than him.