Former champion Juan Manuel Lopez has issued a public apology to referee Roberto Ramirez. After Lopez was stopped in the tenth round of Saturday's rematch with WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido, which took place in San Juan - Lopez called Ramirez "a gambler" and claimed the referee had a "gambling problem."

Peter Rivera: Vice President of PR Best Boxing Promotions - "We at PR Best Boxing Promotions, and on behalf of the entire team of former world champion Juan Manuel" Juanma" Lopez, want to issue an apology for any comments that may have tarnished the reputation of referee Roberto Ramirez. An event of this magnitude required a referee with the magnitude of Roberto, who has extensive worldwide experience, and we know that Roberto did a great job, and did what he had to do. When Juanma was hurt, (Ramirez) stopped the fight and that is part of his job - to protect [fighters] from receiving unnecessary punishment. We at PR Best Boxing Promotions recognize your professionalism and we fully agree with your decision, and again we apologize for any comments which may have tarnished on your work. "

Juan Manuel "Juanma" Lopez - "For my part I apologize to Roberto (Ramirez) for comments I had made after the fight with Salido. Roberto is one of the best referees in the world, he did a great job, and I appreciate that I was protected because I was definitely hurt. Everyone knows how much I trained for this fight, all of the sacrifices that I made, because I wanted to give a big win to Puerto Rico and perhaps the frustration of failing in my country [caused the comments], and again I want to praise Roberto for his work. "

"I also want to give credit to Orlando Salido for his victory and thank him for coming to my country to give me a rematch. It was a great fight, everyone could see that, and I want to thank the people of Puerto Rico for all the support they gave me at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente, and to all those who saw the fight on television. Please know that I still have things to do in boxing and soon we'll be back to put the name of Puerto Rico up again."