Juan Manuel Lopez added another feather to his pound-for-pound cap by beating Gerry Penalosa from pillar to post in their bout Sunday morning, forcing Freddie Roach keep the Filipino champion from continuing the fight at the beginning of the tenth round. It was the first stoppage of his career for Penalosa, who had never touched the canvas in more than 60 fights.

It was a mismatch from the very beginning, with Penalosa lying prone to Juanma's body attacks. If it had been Penalosa from 10 years ago in the ring against Lopez, he would have been able to stay active enough to confound Lopez with his activity in close quarters, and he would have been busy enough on offense to prevent the champion from marching in and taking his shots. Instead, Penalosa was a sitting duck who, to use Roach's words for Oscar de la Hoya, could not pull the trigger anymore.

In statements prior to the fight, Penalosa said that win or lose, this wouldn't be his swan song. While he's unlikely to be facing anyone as big or as strong as Lopez if he does continue fighting, his skills have slipped enough that he might end up getting seriously hurt. People close to Penalosa ought to be seriously talking him into retirement.

What's next for Juanma? He's talking about facing either of the current kings of the division, Rafael Marquez (Pacquiao nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez's brother) or Israel Vasquez, both of whom are considered top 10 pound-for-pound fighters. A victory of either man would turn Lopez into an international boxing superstar.

And boxing needs new stars, badly. One good takeaway from Penalosa's loss is that it exposes a rising star like Juanma to the Philippine audience. Perhaps, a year or two down the line, a Filipino boxer like, say, Nonito Donaire (when he's ready to move up in weight), can set up a lucrative payday against Lopez. Of course, weight issues would need to be resolved--Donaire currently fights at 112 lbs., while Lopez is the champ at 122--but Donaire has already talked about moving up in weight to 118. Adding another wrinkle is the fact that Gerry Penalosa had a hand in training Donaire, so a Juanma-Donaire fight is sort of going to be like Kamagong (without Lito Lapid).

With American businessmen realizing the collective purchasing power of the Filipino community in the United States, and with Boricuas getting behind Juanma the same way they did for Tito Trinidad, it's not hard to imagine a Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Nonito Donaire bout headlining Madison Square Garden. After all, there are more Puerto Ricans in New York than in the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, and I'm sure Pinoys in the Tri-State area could be mobilized to support one of their own.