By Thomas Gerbasi

If being married to a Puerto Rican woman has taught me anything, it’s that Puerto Ricans don’t forget anything you said to them. Never. Like ten years later they’ll bring up something you said on Thanksgiving at 3:52 in the afternoon.

So should anyone be surprised that when referee Ramon Pena stepped in to wave off Juan Manuel Lopez’ fight against Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. at 2:29 of the 11th round, it wasn’t really over?

Not by a long shot.

“There is super real animosity,” Vazquez said in a pre-fight press release. “I cannot stand him; he repulses me.”

More Vazquez…

“JuanMa Lopez and many people have belittled me. They have disparaged my sacrifice, the food that I put on the table for my family, but Saturday I will hurt him.”

And more…

“He has always undervalued and disparaged me. He's never given me my proper place. This is the first time in my career that I make a prediction: I will knock him out.”

This was a true grudge match, one rivalry seemingly simmering for years, and it took more than 32 minutes and 29 seconds of ring time for Lopez to get it out of his system. So after stopping Vazquez for his 35th professional win, he didn’t go celebrate with his cornermen. He instead finished his fight by duking it out briefly with Vazquez cornerman Albert Rivera.

The exchange went viral, with the usual, “Ho ho, look at what they’re doing in boxing now,” comments following in rapid-fire fashion. Yes, it wasn’t the best look for the sport, and Lopez should have known better, but after so many harsh words had been spoken and so much emotion had been injected into the bout, why was anyone shocked that a sporting event turned into a fight?

If anything, the post-fight antics – which got both Lopez and Rivera suspended by the Boxing Commission of Puerto Rico – overshadowed what might have been the last great night of Lopez’ career.

Of course, a win like that won’t mean the end for the Caguas product, because that’s not how boxing works. In boxing, you fight until you can’t win anymore, and then you still fight a few more times just to make sure.

Lopez’ own Waterloo took place in 2014, when back-to-back knockout losses against Francisco Vargas and Jesus Andres Cuellar seemingly marked the end of a thrilling career that saw him win world titles at 122 and 126 pounds while he beat the likes of Rafael Marquez, Steven Luevano and Daniel Ponce De Leon, and also engaged in a pair of classics with Orlando Salido.

Before the first bout with Salido, Lopez was 30-0 with 27 knockouts and on his way to the greatness won by other Puerto Rican superstars like Trinidad, Cotto, Benitez and Gomez. But there were already cracks in the foundation that didn’t show up on his record. A routine 12-round decision win over Rogers Mtagwa in October of 2009 was anything but that, as Mtagwa rocked and nearly stopped Lopez in the final two rounds. After three more wins, Lopez went to war with Salido but was halted in the eighth round.

“The most hurt I’ve been was actually after that first fight and getting the first loss,” he told me in 2013. “When you lose that first time it’s really something very painful.”

It was more of the same in the rematch, and though six more fights would follow in 2013-14, he would only manage a .500 record as he got stopped in all three defeats. Lopez’ defense was always his offense, but as he slowed and his punches got wider, it was easier to find that button and finish him. He had left too much in the ring too fast, so when he was knocked out in two rounds by Cuellar in September of 2014 and then retired, his fans breathed a collective sigh of relief.

That sigh turned to a groan when the Vazquez fight was announced. It appeared to be nothing more than a money grab, an opportunity to wheel two former world champions out in front of their loyal fans in Puerto Rico and watch them engage in something resembling a world-class boxing match. All for a suggested retail price of $29.95.

But like true champions, they gave us something more. Whether it was bad blood, another taste of glory, or something that they only know, Lopez and Vazquez dug deep one more time, and while it wasn’t a prime performance by either man, it was close enough to put the eyes of the boxing world on them for one more night.

In the end, it was Lopez who got the victory, the knockout, and the spotlight. In a perfect world, it was the perfect way to leave. It won’t go that way, as the win has Lopez talking about a fight with Abner Mares or a third bout with Salido. Both would end the way his previous five losses did because he is not the same fighter he used to be.

But last Saturday night, if only for a moment, he was “JuanMa” once more. It was enough for his fans. Hopefully it will be enough for him.