Lopez vs Luevano, Gamboa vs Concepcion Double For Jan

By Mark Vester

According to Ivan Rivera, president of Puerto Rico Best Boxing, co-promoter of WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez, says the fighter will likely face WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano on January 23 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Rivera says the co-feature will likely be WBA "regular" featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa taking on Filipino Bernabe Concepcion. The doubleheader is Top Rank's continued plan to build the mega-clash between Juanma and Gamboa. HBO will televise both fights.

"Everything indicates that it will be Steve Luevano. The first reason is because he is also with [Top Rank] and it is a much better deal. And second because [Juanma] had always talked about gaining weight after the fight with [Rogers] Mtagwa. For a long time, Juanma has had a difficult time getting down to 122," Rivera told El Nuevo Dia.

Rivera says the next fight for Juanma would not be against Gamboa, at least as the plans stand right now. If he beats Luevano, Juanam's next bout would possibly be a unification with WBC featherweight champion Elio Rojas, from the Dominican Republic, in June at Madison Square Garden. The fight will be positioned around the time of the Puerto Rican Day parade; another step by Top Rank to build Lopez's popularity in the New York area.

Juanma received 20 stitches on his face from last weekend's war with Mtagwa. Rivera thinks Junam might have to stay away from the gym for 30 to 45 days.

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