López vs. Peñalosa press conference

Carolina, P.R.- A cast of Boxing stars was present at yesterday’s press conference prior to this Saturday’s championship bout between WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” López against Gerry “Fearless” Peñalosa. Among the present, and in addition to the fighters appearing on Saturday’s card were current WBO light flyweight and super flyweight champions Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon and José “Carita” López along with knockout artist Edison “Pantera” Miranda.

15rounds.com had a chance to talk with some of the boxers present at the event and here is some of what they had to say about their upcoming bouts.

Juan Manuel López (24-0 22KO’s) answered questions for a diversity of media representatives for close to an hour after the press conference had ended. With his usual smile and pleasant disposition, the young champion expressed some interesting thoughts about his upcoming fight and the state of things in his division and those within his reach.

About his next opponent, the Puerto Rican champion would constantly give credit to his durability, strength and experience. His praises for the challenger would go so far as to say that when he saw his (Peñalosa’s) fight against his former victim, Daniel Ponce de León, he thought it should have been Gerry’s fight or a much closer scorecard. Yet, all the praises he would express would not overshadow the confidence he reiterated in not only winning the bout, but being the first to stop him. When pressured, the champion picked round six to eight as the stoppage rounds considering his powerful straights and hooks would hurt his opponent from the get go.

About future fights and possible opponents he would often express his desire to fight the biggest names around and frequently cited fan favorites Rafael Marquez and Israel Vázquez as names he’s anxious to fight and would also include Panamanian Celestino Caballero among the names he’s looking for. As far as other plans, he would often mention his intention to go for the featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight titles of the World Boxing Organization while leaving his options open to other organizations.

Juanma’s opponent, Gerry “Fearless” Peñalosa (54-6-2 36KO’s), challenger for the WBO super bantamweight title, appeared calm and right at home throughout the whole ordeal. The veteran of San Carlos City, Phillipines would also make himself available to the press and had a few words to share with this scribe.

About his opponent: “I think he’s the best in his division”

“I want to be the best at what I do…(unintelligible) so I moved up from 122 and it just happens that he’s the best…so I think it’s a big challenge for me”

About Puerto Rico: “I love Puerto Rico…the people are very nice, the weather is like Phillipines…”

About his future plans: “It depends, after the fight, if there is (someone) to challenge…” “It depends on the division…like Marquez, Vázquez…if they want to fight me, yeah, I’d love it”.

Lamont Peterson (26-0 12KO’s), set to fight Willy Blain (20-0 3KO’s), also had a few quotes:

Anout his opponent: “I know a little bit about him ‘cause we fought in the amateurs…pretty fast, southpaw, likes to move around…I’m just looking forward to just give the fans a good fight, a good action fight and hopefully everyone enjoys it and I come out the winner”

About his experience:“ …the tougher the competition you fight the better you get so… I believe that I’ve gotten better…I should be able to take him on and beat him”

About his future plans:“…hopefully they can get me in the Cotto card, in New York, if I take care of my business fast enough I would like to fight again in June.”

He ended the short interview stating that he should be able to stop his unbeaten opponent “…that’s what I trained for, that’s what I’m here to do.”

Also present was former world title challenger Edison “Pantera” Miranda who is set to fight former Olympian Andre Ward next month. Never at a loss for words, Miranda was quick to advise his next opponent about the reality of fighting professionally and gave him ten rounds before getting knocked out when they meet.