Juanma Lopez, Rafael Marquez, Glen Johnson and Allan Green Make Their Vegas Entrance

Added on Nov 03, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

Earlier today the four combatants in the two co-featured bouts of this Saturday night’s Top Rank promoted event dubbed as Puerto Rico vs. Mexico arrived at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas where the Showtime Championship Boxing televised fight card is being held.

Fans flocked to meet current WBO Featherweight Champion, Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico, as he made his way onto the famed Las Vegas Strip where he stopped to sign autographs and shake hands with his many supporters. Despite Miguel Cotto being the premier name when it comes to boxing in Puerto Rico, Lopez is steadily building upon his level of stardom with each and every outing.

His Mexican challenger, former two-division world champion Rafael Marquez, along with his older brother Juan Manuel looks to become the first pair of brother to have won titles in three different weight classes. Most recently known for his violent encouters with Israel Vasquez, Marquez has become a hero to Mexican boxing fans who came out in full force to greet their fighter.

Lopez’ featherweight title will be on the line in the 12 round main event in a bout that is expected, at least by this scribe, to be a fight of the year candidate when it is all said and done. Considering that between both Lopez and Marquez they combine for a 90% knockout ratio, it’s safe to assume that there will be plenty of fireworks for as long as it lasts.

The co-feature bout of the evening features two replacement fighters in a stage three bout of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic between Allan Green of Tulsa, Oklahoma and the hard luck Jamaican veteran, Glen Johnson.

Upon their arrival, both men spoke to the media regarding their chances of advancing to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Green was brought in prior to the beginning of the second round after Arthur Abraham knocked Jermain Taylor out of their fight and eventually out of the tournament. Green’s first matchup came against current WBA super middleweight champ, Andre Ward, in Ward’s hometown of Oakland. Despite Ward possessing some of the sharpest speed and skill in the game today, it came of a bit of a surprise as to how inactive Green was throughout the twelve round affair.

His late entrance to the tournament along with his underwhelming performance against Ward leaves Green left with no option other than stopping Johnson before the final bell, which has only happened to Johnson once. And even if that happens, he’ll need some help from the other fighters to secure his spot in the following round.

Just like Green, Glen Johnson enters this leg of the tournament with zero points to his name. Johnson was last seen in the ring in August when he dropped a hotly contested decision to young IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Tavoris Cloud.

It came as a surprise to the boxing world when Mikkel Kessler announced his withdrawal from the tourney sighting a long standing eye injury, and even more surprising when Johnson was announced as his replacement considering that it has been just over 10 years since Glen has weighed in at the 168-lb. weight limit.

A consummate professional who has seen his share of bad luck, Johnson’s 50-14-2 doesn’t accurately reflect his career. Feeling down in out in the brutal sport that is boxing, Johnson appeared frustrated with things following his loss to Cloud and could have easily walked into the sunset and called it a career.

Instead, he looks to give himself a fresh start of sorts with his return to the super middleweight division.

All four fighters, along with Antonio Tarver, took part in a fan meet and greet after their arrivals. More to follow as the fight continues to draw closer.

Quick Hits From Around The Ring

Earlier this week Manny Pacquiao was featured as a guest on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and ended up singing a duet with comedic actor Will Farrell, let’s hope his performance against Antonio Margarito next week goes a bit better…Both Pacquiao and Margarito, along with their respective trainers, took some time to speak to the media via a national teleconference earlier today, highlights will be featured later this week…Speaking of next week’s event, former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik was withdrawn from his bout with Brian Vera citing a rib injury. The announcement has fueled speculation of Pavlik’s alcohol abuse…Upon arriving in New Jersey this week, former welterweight champ Zab Judah made an appearance at MLK Elementary School in Newark to speak to its young students…Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero also made his New Jersey arrival this week as he fights in the co-feature bout with Vincente Escobedo prior to Judah’s main event clash with Lucas Matthysse.

That’s it for now, we’ll see you for the next round tomorrow folks.