"El Relampago" Omar Juarez of Brownsville bounced back beautifully Sunday night at the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California. Rebounding off the only loss of his career, a very close and controversial loss, to rugged, Filipino, All Rivera in Minnesota back in June. A loss many including his management team thought he clearly won. The decision went one way and not the other and the highly touted prospect from the Rio Grande Valley had the first blemish on his record.
What came next, however, would be of the utmost importance. How would Juarez, who also serves as a motivational speaker in the Rio Grande Valley area, respond to adversity. If that was the question El Relampago answered that question emphatically. Juarez came out like gangbusters and rocked his opponent, Jairo Lopez, just over a minute into the fight with an overhand right and followed up with another straight right hand for good measure and then a third. What happened in the first minute and change of the fight would be indicative of what happened the rest of the night. The Texan would not look back remaining in control throughout. Staying cool and composed Juarez stayed on the outside in the early stages piling up the points. Well ahead on the cards by the fourth Juarez decided to sit and establish his power more. Midway through the fourth Juarez landed split the guard with a perfect uppercut snapping Lopez's head back and then fired off a barrage of hooks and right hands that kept Lopez in a world of trouble. The beatdown continued in the fifth as Juarez now fighting off the front foot landed a massive straight right hand that dropped Lopez. It looked like it may end that fight, however a brave Lopez, of Nuevo Leon, Mexico somehow beat the count and continued. The writing was already on the wall however and Juares on the behest of his trainer Rick Nunez, remained on the aggressive, not gun shy or cautious at all coming off his first career knockdown and loss. Juarez fought the remainder of the fight on the inside unleashing thudding combinations that scored to the head and body. Stunning Lopez from long range and then beating him up on the inside and backing the aggressive Lopez up, Juarez cruised to an impressive unanimous decision victory by scores of 80-71, and 79-72x2 to move his record to 12-1 (5).
The 22-year-old Brownsville native is consistently mentioned among the best young fighters in the world. He is time and again featured on the FOX and FS1 broadcasts as one of the best PBC prospects under the age of 23. With this performance the Brownsvillian reestablishes himself as the force he was considered to be before the controversial loss this past summer and sets himself up for bigger fights in the future. Juarez will likely fight one more time in 2021 before moving up in competition in 2022 and fighting the premier names in the jr welterweight division.