By Cliff Rold (photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank)
26-year old WBO Jr. Featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez (28-0, 25 KO) of Caguas, Puerto Rico, moved up four pounds on Saturday night, stopping 28-year old WBO Featherweight titlist Steven Luevano (37-2-1, 15 KO) of La Puente, California, in round seven and winning his second belt in his second weight class at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Lopez came in just a half pound beneath the division limit, Luevano right on the mark at 126 lbs.
Lopez entered the bout with a 6-0 mark in title contests, having stopped Daniel Ponce De Leon for his 122 lb. belt in June 2008 before making five title defenses. Only one of those contests, his last in the division, went the distance. Against Rogers Mtagwa last October, Lopez was pushed to the brink of defeat but hung on to eke out a decision win and came into Saturday with questions looming.
He provided the best answer any fighter can.
Luevano opened up first on the night, shooting a right jab and staying with the punch while Lopez, methodical, alternated between single jabs and feints. Lopez landed a long right to get Luevano’s attention before a minute had passed and Luevano responded with a single lead right hook. Respectful but intense, both mostly head hunting, the two would trade one-twos and lead hooks through to the bell in a close opening frame which saw Luevano busier and Lopez landing what appeared to be the more impactful blows.
Lopez’s long right found its mark three times early in the second while Luevano continued steadily working the jab while mixing in a lead right to the body. A Lopez left was answered with a Luevano right and Lopez shook his head, daring Luevano to throw another. Another Luevano lead right hook and long left connected in the closing seconds of the second and Lopez responded with a thudding left hook before the bell.
The Californian landed a right to the body to open the third and countered an off balance Lopez right with a quick straight shot. Lopez would land a harsher left moments later, stunning Luevano, and followed up quickly with a two-fisted assault. Firing uppercuts with his right and left hand, Luevano covered up as Lopez came forward, missing with a counter left of his own. The storm passed quickly and Luevano found control of the action halfway through the round, standing at ring center and landing shots while making Lopez miss wildly at times. Lopez turned the momentum back to himself with some hard right hooks, ending the round by knocking Luevano off balance in a phone booth exchange.
It was Lopez going to the belly to start the action in round four and, with his left hand tucked close to his chin, Lopez was also looking to take away the Luevano jab early. A left hand and right hook found the head of Luevano and while the titlist responded with blows of his own, the power behind his shots was doing nothing to deter the Puerto Rican. Stalking forward, Lopez was slipping shots inside and tagging Luevano repeatedly with an escalating assortment of hooks and uppercuts through the final minute of the fourth.
Luevano stayed calm and within himself as the fifth developed, still working his jab and firing right hooks. Lopez remained aggressive, bobbing, weaving, pushing Luevano backwards with power shots and taking little flush leather in return, his tightly held gloves picking off what he wasn’t slipping until a wild exchange in the last ten seconds gave Luevano chances to land between Lopez’s shots.
His left eye swelling and title belt potentially beginning to slip away, Luevano could find no answer to Lopez’s offense in round six other than to fight and hope for the best. Lopez obliged and again got the better of it, bruising the ribs of Luevano and, while taking more shots than he had in the fifth, continuing to mix up his hooks and uppercuts in thudding fashion.
An accidental clash of heads at the start of the seventh brought a quick reproach to Lopez from referee Benji Esteves, delaying briefly what was to become the inevitable for Luevano. A right uppercut snapped into the chin of Luevano, his posture softening as he stepped backwards. Holding on, a right hand and left hook whipped the head of Luevano back and forth before he collapsed backwards, his head hitting the turnbuckle before his back touched the canvas. Luevano struggled to his feet, his legs still wobbly, but nodded his okay to continue. Esteves felt otherwise and waved his hands in front of the beaten fighter at :44 seconds of round seven.
It was Luevano’s first loss since a decision defeat in 2005, and first defeat by knockout, bringing an end to his title run at five successful defenses after winning a then vacant belt in July 2007 with a knockout of future Jr. Lightweight titlist Nicky Cook.
It was the sort of devastating win Lopez was looking for after coming close to defeat in the brutal war at Jr. Featherweight with Rogers Mtagwa. It was also a step towards a stated goal. “It’s my dream to be champion in four divisions. This is the second one and I’m very, very happy to have showed the crowd a good fight.”
Lopez gave credit to the game Luevano for giving him a good fight before discussion moved to comparisons with the man who opened up the telecast and whom Lopez’s promoters have said they’d like to match him with by year’s end, Yuriorkis Gamboa. “I prepped for this fight (Luevano). It doesn’t matter what (Gamboa) did against Mtagwa but Mtagwa weighed 122 and the fight was at 126. What happened with Mtagwa today isn’t gonna’ happen to me because it’s two different styles.”
What happened to Mtagwa?
In the televised opener, the eye catching 28-year old Cuban Featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa (17-0, 15 KO), 126, of Miami, Florida, walked though rugged 30-year old veteran Rogers Mtagwa (26-14-2, 18 KO), 122 ½, born in Tanzania and fighting out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scoring three knockdowns en route to a stoppage in just two rounds. Gamboa, a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist prior to defecting from the communist nation in 2006 whose speed and power have caught the attention of the boxing world, was believed to be in for a test following Mtagwa’s performance against Lopez last year, a fight Mtagwa lost but appeared to be near winning by knockout in the late rounds.
Whatever test was being presented, Gamboa clearly aced it.
Mtagwa fired first, missing with the left jab and then missing some winging power shots before eating a sharp lead left to the face from Gamboa. The Cuban, holding his hands higher than usual and jabbing to set up his offense, Gamboa would stun Mtagwa with a left and right just past a minute in. At the round’s halfway point, Gamboa’s lead left had Mtagwa off balance but it would take until the last fifteen seconds to find the sweet spot, catching the forehead of the charging Tanzanian and sending him to the floor. Mtagwa quickly beat the count and the round ended before he could be sent to the floor again in round one.
Aggressive to begin the second, Mtagwa wasted little time giving Gamboa chances to pick up where he left off in the first. Mtagwa landed a right and glancing left but it was a Gamboa right in return that would cause damage, driving Mtagwa towards the ropes. A solid left sent Mtagwa reeling from one set of strands to another as Gamboa pursued, landing a left, then a hard left and right, in a flurry of blows. Another right crashed into the cheek of Mtagwa before a clinch halted the momentum. Separated by referee Steve Smoger, Mtagwa tried to reset but a clipping counter sent an attempted right hand wild.
Two more Gamboa rights, then a left and right, shook Mtagwa heading into the middle of the round. Pushed to the ropes, Mtagwa would take a right beneath the shoulder and left to the ribs before a left and right to the head sent him down for the second time. Wearing a mask of discouragement as he rose again, Mtagwa nodded when Smoger asked if he wanted to continue and stepped back into the fray.
Three left hands awaited him, the first to the head followed seconds later with a blow to the ribs and another to the chin. Winging shots and trying to hold, Mtagwa battled to keep his feet, staggered with a right and left and then another flush left along the ropes. His eyes dazed and hands down, Mtagwa never saw the final right hand coming as it chopped into his temple, sending him awkwardly seated to the floor. Smoger stepped in immediately to halt the action at 2:35 of round two.
Gamboa, who made the second defense of one of the WBA’s Featherweight belts (undefeated Chris John holds another), was almost disappointed with the early end. “I couldn’t show all that I had. I was hoping to get to the fourth round and then really show what I came with but it wasn’t there.” Presumably “it” was an opponent on the night who could take what Gamboa was dishing out.
A positive on the night, beyond another scintillating knockout win, was the improved defensive posture of Gamboa. The Cuban has been down three times already in his career and stated after the bout that, “I’ve been trying to improve all of these deficiencies. We improved and we’ve tried to erase them.”
The improvements were there and, combined with the rest of Gamboa’s gifts, could be a sign of rough waters ahead for the rest of the Featherweight division.
Lopez will likely have something to say about that.
The card was televised on U.S. premium cable outlet HBO as part of its Boxing After Dark series, promoted by Top Rank.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
