LOS ANGELES – Juan Carrillo is an unbeaten power puncher just like his Saturday night ProBoxTV co-main event opponent Najee Lopez, but at 33, the Colombian has far less room to fall short.
“He realizes this is his moment – knows that Lopez is a ProBox fighter, understands he’s the underdog – and he’s going to do everything he can to win the fight,” Carrillo trainer Bob Santos told BoxingScene.
With Lopez, 16-0 (13 KOs), returning from a fight-of-the-year candidacy in his March eighth-round TKO of Mexico’s Manuel Gallegos, he’s looking to again entertain in the expected brawl with Carrillo, 15-0 (11 KOs).
A Georgia-based Puerto Rican, Lopez, ranked No. 4 among light-heavyweights by the WBA, No. 10 by the IBF and No. 11 by the WBC, is looking at elevating his position and perhaps land a title shot by next year.
Yet, Carrillo, a left-hander, has similar plans after aligning with the respected team of Santos and veteran promoter Sampson Lewkowicz.
A 2016 Olympian with impressive amateur pedigree, Carrillo inspired Lewkowicz to lobby intensely for the fighter who rewarded the promoter’s faith by knocking out Marlon Delgado in the fourth round on the David Benavidez-Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez card May 2 in Las Vegas.
Santos has worked with Carrillo for the past two months in Las Vegas, and brought in Gallegos as a sparring partner.
“I can tell you we fared a lot better against [Gallegos] than Lopez did,” Santos said in reference to Lopez getting cut accidentally and then knocked down by Gallegos in the seventh before finishing him.
But while Lopez has been kept busy by ProBoxTV’s ongoing slate of action, the previously unattended Carrillo fought just once during a 19-month span between 2024 and May.
Lewkowicz said an Olympian getting just 14 fights in a decade is inexcusable.
That can be the residue of a boxer being based in South America, Santos said.
“He might have languished, but he’s here now, and it’s all here for him,” Santos said.
As Uruguay native Lewkowicz discovered Carrillo, he was impressed with the fighter’s experience and Olympic pedigree.
“This is a 50-50 fight [versus Lopez] and it keeps with what ProBox always says about how it tests their fighters – there’s nothing for free,” Lewkowicz said.
Santos said he believes Carrillo’s power every bit matches Lopez’s, adding he’s surprised Lopez is being exposed to such a substantial threat.
‘It’s his last shot and he knows it,” Lewkowicz said. “He’s as hungry as a tiger.”
