When Josesito Lopez of Riverside and Marcos Maidana of Argentina square off in the welterweight main event June 8 at Home Depot Center (on Showtime), it will also be a clash between their respective trainers – Henry Ramirez and Robert Garcia.
The two are friends, but these guys are pros and they’d never let that stand in the way of a fight that has the potential to be terrific.
“This fight, Josesito and Maidana, is a Fight of the Year candidate,” said Ramirez, who trains Lopez, and also is the trainer for heavyweight Chris Arreola. “Robert Garcia and I are good friends. But this is a sport and I know he has been preparing Maidana like I’ve been preparing Josesito.”
Of, Garcia has been.
“We’re training hard for this fight and we know what type of fight we have in front of us,” Garcia said. We cannot take this fight lightly. We’ve gotten some great sparring in for this fight and I know Josesito and his coach have done the same. We’re actually pretty good friends with Henry (Ramirez).”
Lopez is 30-5 with 18 knockouts. Maidana is 33-3 with 30 knockouts.