Two of the hottest prospects in boxing fought different opponents and headlined their own respective fight cards last Saturday, June 27, 2009, with varying results.
Juanma prevails
On the Top Rank side was Juan Manuel Lopez, as he headlined Top Rank’s Latin Fury 9 fight card held at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Lopez, the WBO super bantamweight titlist from Puerto Rico, successfully defended his title against then undefeated Canadian Olivier Lontchi. The fight was mostly a one-sided affair, with Lontchi tasting the canvas early in the second round courtesy of a Lopez right hand. The rest of the rounds saw several attempts from Lontchi to get back in the fight but Lopez got the better of most of the exchanges. Lopez was particularly dominant in the eighth round, and dropped Lontchi again in the ninth. Lontchi did not answer the bell for the tenth round.
It was the fourth successful title defense by Lopez after he won the WBO strap from Daniel Ponce de Leon via first round knockout over a year ago. Lopez’s last fight was against tough Filipino veteran Gerry Peñalosa who lost via 10th round TKO after Peñalosa corner man Freddie Roach threw in the towel.
Ortiz goes down
On the Golden Boy Promotions corner, Mexican-American”Vicious” Victor Ortiz was stopped by unheralded Argentinian Marcos Rene Maidana in the sixth round of what was to be the co-main event (after Chris John pulled out of his rematch with Rocky Juarez due to blood irregularities) of their fight card at Staples Center, Los Angeles, California.
Both fighters tasted each other’s power early in the fight, with Maidana going down three times in the opening two rounds. Ortiz was also knocked down in the first round courtesy of a big straight hand from Maidana.
Ortiz was able to pressure Maidana in rounds two and three, with rounds four and five going to Maidana. In the sixth round, a flurry of heavy right hands landed for Maidana, dropping Ortiz and although the latter was able to beat the count, he looked ready to quit. The ringside physician stepped in to take a look at Ortiz’s eye and waved off the fight, awarding the win to Maidana via sixth round TKO.
The Ortiz loss further adds to the woes of Golden Boy Promotions after Oscar De La Hoya’s retirement, Ricky Hatton’s loss at the hands of Manny Pacquiao, and the relative inactivity of its aging fighters, Bernard Hopkins and Sugar Shane Mosley.
El Travieso’s comeback
Meanwhile, Jorge Arce bounced back from a disappointing 11th round TKO loss to Vic Darchinyan four months ago by stopping Filipino Fernando Lumacad in the undercard of Latin Fury 9. After an uneventful and feeling-out first round, Arce suffered a cut on his eyebrow in the second and was forced to step on the gas in the third round and pressured the Filipino. Arce eventually landed a right hand on Lumacad’s chin and knocked him out.
