Champion Lopez looks to bolster featherweight reputations against Marquez

A lot has changed for Juan Manuel Lopez since he last was seen in Las Vegas in 2008.

He has moved up in weight. He has upgraded from undercard fighter to a main event headliner. He carries the banner as Puerto Rico's current best boxer, and he's the star of one of the sport's most competitive divisions.

The handsome, charismatic 27-year-old from Caguas is enjoying the limelight that comes with being a world champion. Lopez (29-0, 26 knockouts) can bolster his case for being the world's best featherweight if he can stop veteran Rafael Marquez tonight at the MGM Grand Garden and retain his WBO title.

"You dream about opportunities such as this," Lopez said through an interpreter. "Being in the main event anywhere is special. But when it is in Las Vegas, it's so much bigger because the entire world is watching."

When Lopez fought at the MGM the last time, he was a super bantamweight, defending his WBO title by stopping Sergio Medina with a first-round technical knockout on Dec. 6, 2008. That was the night Manny Pacquiao destroyed Oscar De La Hoya.

Now, Lopez is part of an interesting equation in the featherweight division, which includes WBA and IBF champion Yuriorkis Gamboa and WBA super champion Chris John. Lopez said his goal is to unite the titles and own them all by this time next year. To do that, he has to fight a smart bout against Marquez (39-5, 35 KOs), a cagey, courageous veteran who will not back down.

Lopez insists he is not looking past tonight's fight, in which the MGM sports book has him a 4-1 favorite to retain his belt.

"I respect Marquez very much," Lopez said. "He is the kind of fighter champions have to fight."

Both fighters made the 126-pound limit Friday, each weighing 125½, and Lopez, who many followers call "Juanma," was relaxed and confident.

"My training went well; I took my time and didn't feel a need to rush," said Lopez, who took a few weeks off after Marquez injured his right thumb in August after slamming a car door on it, postponing the fight from its original date of Sept. 18. "We came back, started from scratch, and I've trained as if it will go 12 rounds, but I don't think it will."

He scoffed at the notion that the 31-year-old Marquez claims he has a weak chin.

"I'm undefeated, and he has, what, five losses?" Lopez said. "So you tell me who has the weak chin."

Lopez, who won the WBO featherweight belt Jan. 23 when he stopped Steven Luevano at New York's Madison Square Garden, will make his second title defense tonight. He knows there is considerable anticipation about him fighting Gamboa, the Cuban star who has made a meteoric rise to the top by winning the WBA title in just his 16th professional fight and sports a 19-0 record. But Lopez knows he can't afford to step backward tonight.

"I want to fight Gamboa first, then John second," Lopez said. "When I beat Luevano, that was an important step in my career. I felt pressure to look good that night, and I learned a lot about myself. I thought I fought the more intelligent fight, and I proved to myself that I can be smart inside the ring and still be successful.

"I can make adjustments to the game plan while in the ring. That's important if I am to beat Marquez, then Gamboa. They are experienced, great fighters."

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who has promoted Lopez from the beginning of his professional career in 2005, said the sport has another superstar to showcase.

"He's got it all," Arum said. "He's obviously very talented in the ring. He's good-looking, he's charismatic, he represents his country and his people in a first-class manner, (and) he respects the sport and his opponents. What's not to like?"

Lopez, compared favorably to fellow countryman and former world champion Felix Trinidad, is humbled by such praise. But he won't feel whole until he's the complete master of the featherweight division.

"I know we're in a hot division," he said. "Every fighter's goal is to unify the titles. Day by day, I'm learning more; I'm getting smarter. I want to fight the best, and I hope to be in a position soon to where one day I will own all the belts."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.