‘I will knock Michael Conlan out’ – Declares Luis Alberto Lopez
Luis Alberto Lopez warned Michael Conlan he can run but he can’t hide in Belfast this Saturday.
The IBF featherweight world champion puts his title on the line against the Irish star at the SSE Arena this weekend and comes to the capital of Irish boxing full of confidence.
The Mexicali, Mexico native, who navigated bumpy terrain to become a world champion, doesn’t think it will be plain sailing but is confident he will sink the Olympic medal winners’ world title hopes on top of a stacked BT Sports broadcast card.
Lopez, who like Conlan is promoted by Top Rank, expects the World Amateur Championships gold medal winner to make the ‘smart’ choice and box – but warns keeping the Mexican at bay won’t be easy.
“It wouldn’t be smart for him to try to brawl with me. So, I expect him to come out and box. But I have the speed and strength to cut the ring and find him. I will knock Michael Conlan out!” he declares.
The champion with 15 knockouts on his resume is confident he has the power to take the short route to victory and claims once the Adam Booth-trained fighters movement slows the end will come pretty fast.
“This is going to be a great fight. He’s an Olympian. He knows how to stick and move. It’s going to be a difficult fight. But my preparation has been excellent. This has been the best training camp of my entire career. And as soon as he starts planting his feet a bit, the fight will end very quickly.”
Lopez, who defeated Josh Warrington and Isaac Lowe on the road, is promising his usual aggressive approach but says its been refined and improved upon.
“We made a strong finish to camp. We were working with Kay Koroma at DLX Boxing in Las Vegas. We’re making big changes. We know I have speed. We know I have power. But now we’re working on sitting down more on my punches and on using my distance.”
