JUANMA LOPEZ SURVIVES LAST ROUND SCARE TO RETAIN TITLE
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 11 Oct 2009
What was expected to be a casual defense for the undefeated WBO superbantam champion Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico against Roger Mtagawa of Philadelphia who had 12 losses in his record before the fight, turned out to be an epic 12-round battle when Lopez was stretched out to his limit and clung out for his dear life in the last round to win by majority decision at the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York Saturday night. The scores were 115-115, 114-113, 115-111 for Lopez.
Lopez tagged Mtagwa with bombs early in the fight but the Tanzanian warrior took JuanMa's strongest punches and continued coming in making the Boricua to fight smart by fighting from the distance in the first half of the fight. In the fifth round, Mtagwa was called for a knockdown by the referee in what appeared to be not coming from a punch.
In the seventh round, Mtagwa connected with several right bombs that changed the complexion of the fight when Lopez accepted Mtagwa's challenged to a brawl. Bombs after bombs where exchanged by both fighters from the 8th round onwards that saw both fighters wobbly and staggered at times but at the same time showed both fighters toughness and stamina in the ring.
In the 11th round, the first time Lopez was extended this far in his entire professional career, Mtagwa connected with some solid shots that sent Lopez staggering towards the rope in the last seconds of the round only to be saved by the bell.
The last round saw Lopez clearly out of his breath and was in danger of being knocked out at any given moment but although Mtagwa connected with many heavy shots to the retreating Lopez, the undefeated Boricua dug deep to scarily survived the round.
Mtagwa, during the post-fight interview, asked for a rematch but Top Rank president Bob Arum said they are looking to fight WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano.
Top photo: WBO Jr. Featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez(L), Caguas, Puerto Rico stays unbeaten and retains his title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Rogers Mtagwa Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. --- Photo Credit : Chris Farina - Top Rank.
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