Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleJuan Lopez meets Rafael Marquez at MGM Grand in September
Undefeated Lopez faces toughest challenge yet on Mexican Independence Day weekend
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 | 10:47 a.m.
Juan Manuel Lopez drops Bernabe Concepcion during their WBO featherweight title fight in Puerto Rico on July 10, 2010. Lopez won by TKO in the second round.
Top Rank on Tuesday officially announced a Sept. 18 featherweight world title fight between Juan Manuel Lopez and Rafael Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The fight will be for Lopez's WBO featherweight title.
It will be the second year in a row that Las Vegas will host a significant boxing event during Mexican Independence Day weekend. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought and defeated Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand.
"To join the elite class of Mexican champions like Julio Cesar Chavez, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Fernando Montiel and my brother Juan Manuel has always been a goal of mine," said the Mexican fighter Marquez in a released statement.
"Now that opportunity has arrived, fighting for a third division world title as my country celebrates its Independence Day."
Lopez (29-0, 26 KO) is coming off a second-round TKO victory over Bernabe Concepcion fought at Madison Square Garden earlier this month.
The 27-year-old fighter, who won his first world title in 2008, has started to break his way into the top pound-for-pound rankings with recent wins over Rogers Mtagwa and Steven Luevano.
Marquez (39-5, 35 KO) also posted a stoppage win in his last fight, knocking out Israel Vazquez in the third round of their May 22 bout at Staples Center.
Marquez, 35, is the current WBC interim featherweight champion. He also held the IBF bantamweight title from 2003 to 2007, successfully defending it seven times.
Tickets for the event will be made available to the public Aug. 2. The fight will air on the Showtime Network.
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting
Discussion: comment so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Jon Jones defends belt for third time, downs rival Rashad Evans
| Date | Event | Headlining Match | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 1 | "The Ultimate Fighter Live" finale | Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann | Las Vegas: The Pearl at the Palms |
| June 8 | Boxing: ESPN2 Friday Night Fights | Kelly Pavlik vs. Scott Sigmon | Las Vegas: The Joint at Hard Rock |
| June 8 | UFC on FX 3 | Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall II | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
| June 9 | Boxing: Pacquiao vs. Bradley | Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley | Las Vegas: MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| June 22 | UFC on FX 4 | Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida | Atlantic City, N.J. |
| June 23 | UFC 147 | Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin II | Belo Horizonte, Brazil |
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
- Locally owned and independent since 1950; Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, best news website in the nation & DuPont Award for broadcast journalism
This could end up being a great fight card to watch live
at a decent price.Since part of the card will air live on showtime ticket price will remain fair.
Main event to be won in under by Lopez over the
much older marquez.Main event will be a battle..Lopez
can really set up his future with a KO..