The boxing scene in the Rio Grande Valley has been absolutely on fire as of late, and there is no better or more touted prospect than 22-year-old "El Relampago" Omar Juarez of Brownsville. The South Texas native sports an 11-1 (5) record and is set to return September 19th in Bakersfield, California. A PBC on Fox card that will feature the brightest young stars in the PBC Stable. The network had previously mentioned El Relampago as one of the best prospects under the age of 23 and every time the young upstart steps in the ring the boxing world takes note.
Juarez will battle 30-year-old hard-hitting Mexican veteran, Jairo Lopez, 26-13 (17) in an eight-round affair. Lopez most recently fought back in August in Atlanta suffering a UD loss to Anthony Peterson. Juarez is looking to bounce back from the lone defeat of his career. A close controversial majority decision loss to Filipino veteran All Rivera. Juarez suffered the first knockdown of his career in the ninth round but certainly seemed to win enough of the early rounds to carry a points victory. Two of the judges disagreed with the boxing public and most ringside observers and awarded the fight to Rivera.
The judges' verdict was nothing less than shocking as nearly everyone thought the young Texan had certainly did enough to pass the first serious test of his young career. Juarez's team reassured him that he had done enough to get the win and that the judges got it wrong. His trainer thought they had won seven rounds and "beat him [Rivera] better than Rances Barthelemy did." Barthelemy is a former two-division world champion who beat Rivera via UD in Rivera's previous fight. Juarez who also serves as a motivational speaker to the youth in the Rio Grande Valley said that he needs to "practice what I preach and come back from this...mentally and emotionally I'm 100% I'm ready to come back.