Lopez and Johnson Both Earn Wins in the Eight Round on Showtime

Added on Nov 08, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

Juan Manuel Marquez TKO8, 3:00 Rafael Marquez (WBO Featherweight Championship), MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

Question his chin no more. Two division champion, Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico, proved that he can take a punch from one of the hardest hitters in the game as he stood toe to toe and exchanged with Rafael Marquez for eight consecutive rounds.

As the opening bell sounded, both fighters threw everything they had in their bag of tricks and never let off the gas in what is without a doubt a candidate for “Fight of the Year”. Lopez’ higher work rate was key in him taking an early lead while Marquez would rally back in the fourth, where on top of being buzzed a couple of times, Lopez was decucted a point by referee Tony Weeks.

Marquez, who fights out of Mexico City, suffering from a nagging shoulder injury that had postponed the fight earlier in the year, decided that he had seen enough of the younger Lopez for one night and failed to answer the bell to start the ninth round.

At the time of stoppage, judges had the bout scored 77-74, 78-73 and 77-73, all in favor of the champion. Lopez now sports a record of 30-0, 27 KOs while Marquez slips to 39-6, 35 KOs. Move over Cotto, Puerto Rico has another star on it’s hands as Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez has arrived.

Glen Johnson KO8 Allan Green, :36, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

In a battle of Super Six World Boxing Classic replacement fighters, super middleweights Allan Green of Tulsa took on Jamaican veteran Glen Johnson. With both men looking to overcome the improbability of making it through to the next round of Showtime’s unprecedented tournament, both guys put it all on the line.

The youth and speed of Green gave him the edge in the early rounds as the 41 year old Johnson took a bit longer to get into his groove as he began to work the body and find a home for his right hand. Johnson began to open up and had Green badly hurt in the third round which undoubtedly was the reason for Green being hesitant in the following round drawing a warning from referee Robert Byrd.

In the ensuing rounds Johnson began to press the action while Green seemed to be running out of gas. Early on in the eighth frame Johsnon shot a jab and followed up with two right hands that sent Green to the mat resulting in Byrd counting the younger fighter out as he complained of Johnson hitting him in the back of the head. Through seven rounds Green was ahead on two scorecards with a tight score of 67-66 while Johsnon was in the lead with a 68-85 score on the third.

The turn back the clock performance of the ageless Johnson was enough to advance him to the tournament’s semi final round and give him an official record of 51-14-2, 35 KOs while Green (29-3, 20 KOs) is left to appeal Robert Byrds assessment that he didn’t beat the ten count he received.

The older Glen Johnson got the victory in the co-main event while the younger Juanma Lopez got the nod in the main event, but it was fans of the sweet science really that won at the end of the night.