Lopez Wins Super Bantamweight Title
The following is from Yahoo.com:
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP)â€"Juan Manuel Lopez stopped Daniel Ponce De Leon in the first round to capture the WBO super bantamweight title Saturday night on the undercard of Kelly Pavlik’s middleweight title defense against Gary Lockett at Boardwalk Hall.
Lopez, who turned professional just a few years ago, knocked down Ponce De Leon seconds into the fight with a left to the body. The Mexican champion struggled to get up from that blow, then got trapped in the corner and absorbed five hard shots to the head before going down for good.
“I knew we were both hard punchers, that wasn’t a question,” Lopez said through an interpreter. “I thought I had more ability than he did and thought I could land the punches he couldn’t.”
Junior lightweight Kevin Mitchell (27-0, 20 KOs), from Dagenham, England, kept his WBO Intercontinental title earlier when he caught Walter Estrada (30-6) with a right to the body at the end of the fifth and the veteran Colombian was unable to come out for the next round.
With Pavlik such a heavy favorite to beat a relatively unknown challenger, the undercard headliner between Ponce de Leon and Lopez, a pair of former Olympians with stylistically opposite styles, had a chance to be the best bout of the night.
It didn’t turn out that way.
Lopez (22-0, 20 KOs) came out fast and peppered De Leon with jabs before tagging him the first time along the ropes.
Ponce de Leon (34-2), making his seventh defense since beating Sod Looknongyangtoy to claim the vacant title 2 1/2 years ago, wobbled around and tried to stay away from the Puerto Rican’s onslaught with a flurry of punches that never connected.
“He surprised me,” Ponce De Leon said. “I came in so confident. He hits hard.”
Lopez deftly moved in when Ponce De Leon got cornered and hit him with right after left, the final right hand dropping him to the canvas. He got up at a count of eight but stumbled backward into the ropes, and the referee waved off the fight at 2:25 of the first round.
Groomed by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, Lopez already has shown he’s a polished fighter with great technical skills.
Lopez, who hails from the same home town of Caguas as welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, suddenly finds himself following in the footsteps of other notable champions from the island, such as five-time champion Felix Trinidad and three-time champion Wilfredo Gomez.
“I always had great belief in myself,” Lopez said. “I hope I showed tonight what I’m capable of doing.”
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