By Ryan Songalia (photo by Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages)
It was just over twelve years ago when a brash, hard-hitting featherweight from England named Naseem Hamed crossed the pond to do battle with an equally combative Kevin Kelley at Madison Square Garden.
The night marked the "The Prince's" HBO debut and he didn't disappoint. A total of six knockdowns in four rounds brought the crowd to its feet and ushered in a new era of prosperity for the featherweight division after Hamed left the Garden a knockout winner.
In the years since then, the featherweight division has been a battleground for several other memorable meetings, featuring Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, followed by Juan Manuel Marquez and eventually Manny Pacquiao.
Where would boxing be without its hungry little men?
The division that has brought the premium cable giants some of its most violent encounters is back at it again, this time with new faces and familiar storylines.
HBO returns to the featherweight business on January 23 with a title bout doubleheader from the same Madison Square Garden that started it all. The show will be promoted by Top Rank.
It's fairly evident that Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa, who will be facing Steven Luevano and Rogers Mtagwa respectively, are the attractions of the card. Both hold undefeated records with knockout percentages approaching 90%. They have been groomed from the moment they turned pro to be future stars.
Like a true "star", the Puerto Rican-born Lopez is being fast-tracked to a world title opportunity in his first significant bout at featherweight after a fairly dominant stint as 122 pound champion that included five successful defenses and four knockouts.
Gamboa, a 2004 Olympic Gold medalist from Cuba, is a WBA champion at 126 pounds. His attractiveness comes from the explosive, precarious manner in which he fights and not the cowhide on his waist.
Both have HBO Sports' Senior Vice President of Programming Kery Davis excited about the future of the little men.
"I think Lopez and Gamboa especially have that type of marquee appeal," said Davis at the Madison Square Garden press conference to kick off the promotion. "You need a couple of guys that can light up a division and be that kind of star a Morales was, a Barrera was or a Hamed was. Can Gamboa be a Hamed? Maybe, he certainly has that kind of potential. Can Lopez be a Barrera or Morales type? Maybe.
"It's certainly a good time to be a featherweight with these guys around."
Though he has successfully defended his title five times, Steven Luevano is relegated to playing second fiddle to Lopez. Take for instance the promotional banner in which this interview was conducted in front of; the champion Gamboa's name appears before his challenger Mtagwa's while Lopez the challenger has his name placed before Luevano's.
This sort of overshadowing is nothing foreign to Luevano, nor is it unexpected.
"It doesn't bother me," says the 37-1-1 (15 KO) Luevano, who trains out of Oxnard, California. "When I first fought for the title in London [against Nicky Cook in 2007], they didn't even have my picture on the poster. But I still kept one because my name was on it. To me, that doesn't mean anything.
“Maybe when I beat Juanma people will open their eyes and see who the real champion is."
For Luevano, this is the opportunity he has been waiting for to bust out into the limelight.
"I thought the pay-per-view undercards were gonna be good; this is even better. I get to headline a show. This is a great privilege for me to fight on this show."
While he will be seeking to make a statement in front of an anticipated sold out crowd, Luevano, known for his boxing skills than for his slugfests, says he will fight the kind of fight that he brought him to this stage.
"I always remember who I am. I never take anybody lightly even if they're coming up from two divisions lower. Juanma's a really good puncher. That's why we're going to box. We'll box him, box him, box him. I'm not going to trade punches; I'm not going to do any of that."
If Luevano will grab the public's attention with a signature win, he will likely do so without head trainer Roberto Garcia in his corner. Garcia, a former super featherweight champion during the late 90s, is stuck between a rock and a hard place with another of his pupil's Brian Viloria defending his strawweight title the same night against Carlos Tamara in the Philippines.
Eduardo Garcia, the elder Garcia that splits duties with Roberto at La Colonia Boxing Gym in Oxnard, CA, will likely be working Luevano's corner for the fight since both can communicate in Spanish. Eduardo, who guided the career of former junior middleweight champ Fernando Vargas, doesn't speak English making working Viloria's corner next to impossible. The younger Garcia says nothing is certain yet, however.
Lopez, 27-0 (24 KO), appeared optimistic and cheerful as he discusses moving up in weight after struggling to squeeze his frame into an unnaturally light division.
"It's going to be a lot easier to make 126 than 122. I have to work to get to 126 but 122 was beginning to be real hard and difficult. I think at 126 I'll be bigger and stronger."
His last fight, against Mtagwa in The Garden, saw him start strong against his awkward opponent only to fade late as the struggles of making weight caught up to him. Lopez was a punch or two away from hitting the canvas before hearing the sweet sound of the final bell.
"I think I got a little carried away. I should have just listened to my corner. I should have kept the pace where I wanted it. I got a little desperate. I should just listen to my corner and make sure I'm doing the right things and keep a pace I can deal with."
Lopez, a native of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, has hometown advantage every time he fights in New York City, where fellow Boricuas Felix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto and Carlos Ortiz found friendly territory with the Big Apple's Puerto Rican community.
Being embraced as a native son of one of the sport's most loyal demographics brings with its own set of advantages, where a fighter can transcend the sport to become iconic in his own community.
Gamboa does not have that sort of major ethnic support (save for, to a lesser extent, a regional following in Miami). Davis doesn't anticipate any issues with Gamboa catching on, however.
"I think his talent supersedes any issues about whether there is a Cuban fanbase that will follow him. He's got the kind of talent that will attract the average sports fan. You don't have to know a lot about boxing that when this guy goes into the ring he brings special skills."
Gamboa's road to a 16-0 (14 KO) professional record has not been without its own set of difficulties. The Cuban has tasted the canvas on four separate occasions, though to his credit he has risen each time to win convincingly.
Gamboa's speed and athleticism will likely shine against the face-first brawling Mtagwa, whose Rocky-like mentality earns him the sentiments of the audience and too frequently, little else. Mtagwa has not been protected in his career, accounting for his 13 losses and two draws to go with 26 wins. His biggest steps up in competition typically end in defeat, though in instances like his 2004 loss to Agapito Sanchez, they sometimes have been the product of dubious judging.
Manager Joe Parella, who has been with Mtagwa for seven years, says there are other factors that work against Mtagwa's growth as a fighter.
"He's his own worst enemy," says the Philadelphia-based manager. "He self destructs. He doesn't listen and he'll stand there. It sounds funny but he gets mad if he doesn't get hit. We tell him don't stand there. We're trying to overcome those problems."
Parella has waited long and patiently for Mtagwa to put it all together on one night. He believes that Mtagwa has the talent but simply lacks the discipline to stick to a game plan. He feels that the mistakes made against Lopez early when he fell behind early and failed to exercise patience in finishing his faded opponent could be their undoing against a perceived stronger foe like Gamboa.
"It is gonna be a tougher fight. He does have speed and he has power. We have power, [Mtagwa is] gonna have to fight a smarter fight than he did against Lopez."
The script seems to be written out that Lopez and Gamboa will come out victorious and meet sometime later in 2010 in a matchup of unbeaten, highly-touted featherweights. It’s not uncommon for these sort of bouts to be discussed before the participants deal with what's in front of them first.
Nor is it uncommon for hungry underdogs to catch distracted "stars" looking too far into the distance.
Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at songaliaboxing@aol.com . Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ryansongalia .