Juan Manuel Lopez Doesn't Feel His Divorce Will Distract Him

[Calderownz]

"I'm one of the few in the world with the ability to separate my personal life from my professional life. I can assure you that I'm concentrating on my career and I'm working hard for my next fight," Lopez said. "It's a difficult situation, but out of respect for both [my wife] Barbara and my children, I really don't want to discuss it. I want our lawyers to take care of things and in the meantime I'll concentrate on my fight and my children."

This is what Puerto Rican superstar boxer Juan Manuel Lopez has stated. Months ago, rumors circulated that he and his wife were having marital difficulties in Puerto Rican tabloids. However, at the time, all involved were denying the accusations.

Whether or not at the time these rumors were true is now irrelevant as the marriage is ending, regardless. Nonetheless, these types of situations can get messy. Lopez is on the cusp of doing some really big things in boxing and now is not the time for distractions.

With that being said, the questions are....

1. Do you think this type of thing can make a fighter lose focus?

2. What should he do in the situation?

 

[Dark Horse]

1. Do you think this type of thing can make a fighter lose focus?

2. What should he do in the situation?

1. Most definitely it can hurt a fighters focus. Boxing is as much or more mental than physical and you really don't want outside interference in your training. Mental preparedness is vital to a successful camp, and a successful fight. If you are off in your mind worried about how much your soon to be ex-wife is going to be collecting in alimony, who's getting the kids, the dog, and the house, this mental distraction can take a heavy toll on the whole process of preparing for a fight. Emotional distress of that nature can shut you down and take your focus off of the fight and off of training. As a result you might not be putting forth the effort in the gym you need to, because you're not emotionally there, you're invested in these other situations outside the ring.

2. That's the part I am not so sure about. Good question. I think he is probably doing the right thing here, trying to put it out of his mind and just power through. It is very possible that he uses this as motivation as well, and that could quite possibly be the very best thing to do. If a person can channel their emotions into motivation, that is a very powerful tool. Not everyone can do that though, and there's no telling if Lopez in that kind of guy. He seems confident enough that he is, so maybe we should just trust in that, and hope for the best with him.

 

[Super Hans]

It wont hurt this wrecking ball, he will do what he does best and go in there and throw bombs, look what happened to Shane when Jin had his balls in her purse and then decided to up sticks and leave him, he went out and destroyed Margarito in a career defining performance and shanes wife was his manager. If he was having problems at home then i would imagine a huge weight will be lifted off his shoulders. He looked bad against Mtagwa a few fights ago but looked awesome against Concepcion and Rafa. All roads lead to a JML/Gamboa showdown and i think he knows that this fight will be his defining moment and if he wins, his earning potential goes through the roof. I think he will be too focused on that.