fightnews: Unbeatenhot prospect Juan Manuel "Juanma" Lopez and WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Pomce de Leon will meet in a ring on June 7 at The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City as part of the Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik-Gary Lockett card on HBO. Lopez (21-0, 19 KOs), a 2004 Puerto Rico Olympian, is the number one contender in the WBO super bantamweight rankings. "I'm very happy for this opportunity and for my first time to fight for a world championship. I'm very well trained and very confident of my habilities to become in a world champion," said Lopez at today's press conference. Ponce de Leon (34-1, 30 KOs), who has six defensas of the 122 lbs. title said "I just want that coming the day of the fight to show my condition. I'll be ready for this fight." Haymaker you think Juanma is ready for this caliber opponent?
I heard the same shit when Boom Boom Bautista was gonna face Ponce.:laughing: To this day I don't know where they buried that kid. ::
I think this will be a good fight...I dont trust Juanma though even though he has one of the sweetest right hooks around I think hes soft and he;ll wilt.
Juanma will have no problems connecting that sweet left hook to De Leon's exposed chin. His shots are more compact and crisp, De Leon swings wild like Maussa, and there it is where Juanma will find the sweet spot.
Juanma is mutton dressed up as lamb. Luckily for him, Ponce is mutton dressed up as dog shit. Should be a good fight.
He's improved a bit...."alot better" is another story entirely. Especially when he has a top fighter in front of him. Peace.
actually I don't thing he's improved at all. Which is why I'm surprised he hasn't lost recently. I've watched him for years and to me he looks like the same fighter. Same robotic fighter with devastating power. I gues it has been enough for him to keep that belt.
Ponce Deleon is "Truth Serum"...A Genuine "Chin Checker"...He's the PERFECT Guy to Determine who's LEGIT or Not, N Boxing... JuanMa BETTER Bring his "A" Game or this Could HURT... ALOT... REED
Well, he can be a relentless pressure fighter and he does hit very hard...with a high workrate to boot. Imagine how he'd hit if he got some technique in 'im. I think he's improved in some respects...he moves laterally better, uses his jab more, tries to set up combinations and has more balance...and can actually move backwards now. BUt it's not a 180-degree transformation by any means...he's still awkward. He's very much who he is - and it tends to be revealed more when he has an elite/very good opponent. Peace.
I am looking foward to this one...Only seen Juanma a few times and that was a little earlier in his career...He does have that wicked right hook but I don't know if he's a complete enough fighter to handle Ponce over the course of a long fight Can't wait...
Ponce looked awful last time out, but he has that equalizer if all else fails. Should be a good fight though...
One thing is for sure, we will find out how good Juanma's chin is. This fight will be very interesting.:crafty:
I think JuanMa lasts longer than Boom Boom, but ultimately suffers the same fate. His fight on the Morales-Diaz undercard showed he had a lot of kinks in his armor that need to be taken care of before fighting someone like De Leon, who may be limited, but is extremely aggressive and a concussive puncher. I'm sure Juan will have some success in the fight, but I think he'd be best served fighting De Leon after 2 or 3 more fights.
