Not long ago Puerto Rican rising star Juan Manuel Lopez expressed interest in an RP (Republic of the Philippines) – PR (Puerto Rico) boxing match up similar to the World Cup between RP and Mexico staged by Golden Boy Promotions.
While the PR-Mexico boxing rivalry is ongoing, JuanMa wants Pueto Rican to find out how the present RP fighters would fare against them. Who will forget the Flash Elorde-Frankie Narvaez and Flash Elorde-Carlos Ortiz fights?
After voicing out his idea, JuanMa had drawn first blood in beating ring smart Gerry Peñalosa. The Ivan Calderon-Rodel Mayol title fight is an unfinished business.
JuanMa’s idea can be full blown in the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto welterweight fight penciled in November. Top Rank can make the event a display of RP-PR powers combined.
A JuanMa-Bernabe Concepcion fight can be intriguing. In case Bernabe losses his August 15 fight to WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano which will diminish interest in the fight, Michael Fareñas can readily step in and take on JuanMa instead. Southpaw Fareñas has been knocking out his opponents in the US in consistent displays of unquestionable power. He just needs to adjust some of his punches to hit not lower than the belt level.
JuanMa will have a more formidable opponent in bull strong Fareñas. And Fareñas will be more than motivated to exact a sweet revenge for his manager, Gerry Peñalosa. Although a tall order, Michael has the tools to beat Juan Manuel Lopez. Beating a star in the making to grab and assume his mantle has been done before. Just look at what a then unknown Manny Pacquiao did to Lehlonoholo Ledwaba in 2003.
The once broached Nonito Donaire-Jose Carita Lopez match up at 115-lbs could be made a reality. Should Nonito beat Rafael Concepcion and win the WBA interim super-flyweight belt which he is expected to do, the Donaire-Lopez unification fight could determine the man at 115 lbs. Having already been KO’d by Nonito, Vic Darchinyan will cease be the top dog at super-flyweight upon Nonito’s re-entry in the division.
The Calderon-Mayol 108-lb title rematch should push through. Calderon’s cuts would be fully healed by November. Learning from their previous drawn fight, Rodel can use more right uppercuts instead of the right straights he unsuccessfully land after the lead left jabs on Ivan’s elusive face. And Ivan might be doing his homework at this time to frustrate Rodel’s power as he easily did to his other previous opponents. There is something to look forward to in this rematch by both sides.
As icing to the cake, Carlos Quintana can be pitted against up and coming Mark Jason Melligen at a catch weight between 140 and 147 lbs. Mark, who is reported to have done well in his sparring with Marcos Maidana prior to the latter’s winning the WBA interim 140-lb title over star-in-the-making Victor Ortiz, will not be an easy opponent for Quintana.
Mark is hungry and a hungry man can devour what’s put in front of him. Quintana’s motivation to fight Mark would be to try to do a Maidana. And this is to expose a merely hyped prospect as not the fighter he is promoted to be. We can find out if Mark can prove that he is not just another hyped prospect in the 140-lb division.
The ongoing Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry is continuously enriching boxing as a fan friendly sport. With modern technology, one can readily revisit memorable fights of decades past and enjoy again and again the power packed rounds of the Carlos Zarate-Wilfredo Gomez and Wilfredo Gomez-Salvador Sanchez fights to name some. Just a few years ago we witnessed the Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto and Daniel Ponce de Leon-Juan Manuel Lopez power wars.
Mexico and Puerto Rico are boxing power countries. Their fighters help to keep boxing exciting. And thanks to Manny Pacquiao RP is now more recognizable in the boxing world map which did not escape Juan Manuel Lopez’s keen eyes.
An RP-PR rivalry will not diminish in any way the interest in the ongoing Mexican-Puerto Rican fray. Ever since, Mexican and Filipino boxers have been fighting each other and an RP-PR series will just make the healthy rivalry complete between and among the three boxing power countries.
As of late, I read a write up which criticized some promoters’ practice of stuffing poorly matched under card fights to a mega fight. When the main event fails to deliver the expected excitement, the paying public feels short changed. This valid customer concern needs to be addressed if boxing wants to sustain fan interest.
While the Pacquiao-Cotto headliner is already a power packed super fight, adding the names of Juan Manuel Lopez, Jose “Carita” Lopez, Carlos Quintana and Nonito Donaire to the card would surely boost ticket and PPV sales, more than enough to cover the added costs involved.
It would be giving more value to what boxing fans pay for. And what’s wrong with causing delight to customers? Nothing is wrong and everything is right. Right for boxing.
So, Mr. Bob Arum, how about this RP-PR power card?
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