IT’S A SAD ENDING WHEN YOU START TO SEE CAREERS FADE AWAY LIKE THIS – Paulie Malignaggi
Another sad chapter to Juan Manuel Lopez’s career was added last night via Jesus Cuellar, who brutally walked down and knocked out the former champion on Fox Sports’ Golden Boy Live!. From the opening round, it was readily apparent a frightful KO was imminent from how easily Cuellar bounced left hands off Lopez, who could do nothing but hold. The ending sequence was a four-punch combination capped by a left hook that left Lopez face-first on the canvas. Referee Tony Weeks called the fight immediately sans a count.
This absurd fight, which was amazingly for the WBA interim featherweight title, was Lopez’s first since being stopped exactly 60 days ago by Francisco Vargas. JuanMa has now been knocked out in three of his last four fights. And going back to 2011, when he suffered his first loss to Orlando Salido, Lopez has gone 4-5 with every defeat being a vicious stoppage. That doesn’t even account for the wars JuanMa has waged before his visible decline against Gerry Penalosa, Rogers Mtagwa and Rafael Marquez.
At 31 years old, Lopez is clearly spent and any further matches are an extreme risk to his health. It’s not a matter of hoping he retires — boxing commissions around the world need to deny him a license and save the man from himself.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 