Steven Luevano, Mario Santiago Battle To a Close Draw

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On the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Steven Luevano retained his WBO featherweight title (35-1-1, 15KOs) by battling Mario Santiago (19-1-1, 14KOs) to a twelve-round draw.

It was a battle of two left-handed counter punchers. Santiago came to fight in the first-round and Luevano decided to trade hard punches.

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A counter punch in the second knocked sent Luevano down, but he got right back up and threw a hard straight left to send Santiago down. Luevano stayed boxing from the distance and Santiago pressed the action with a power attack, stunning Luevano bad in the third and the fifth.

In the tenth, Santiago thought Luevano was in trouble and began to throw a variety of power shots, punching himself out, and then Luevano took over and pounded on Santiago for the final minute.

From the tenth to the final minute of the twelfth, Santiago appeared to be tired as Luevano pressed the action to pack in the last few rounds with the official judges.

The final scores were 117-111 for Luevano, which was a very strange score, 115-113 for Santiago, and 114-114 for the draw.

Comments

Gato2012Mon Jun 30, 2008, 2:45 PM UTC

I thought Santiago won. Ledderman gave Luevano the first 4 rounds, and the 11th. I didnt think Luevano won the first 4 rounds and Luevano didnt do sh!t in the 11th. I didnt get why they were talking like he was doing anything and giving him all kinds of credit in the 11th when he did nothing. Close fight, good fight, but I thought Santiago won it 7 rounds to five. They fought on even terms early, and then the second half Santiago began to dominate in my opinion. That being said, Santiago also cant hang with the top guys in the division. Luevano probably not too.

BennySTMon Jun 30, 2008, 2:13 PM UTC

That score really was f*cking awful. God knows how these guys become professional judges. Either way though, I think the right outcome was made despite the ridiculous score by that one judge. Luevano did not fight his fight at all apart from the first few rounds and the last few. During the middle rounds he seemed to wilt a bit, whether that was from having to make weight or not I don't know, but if he could have kept up the pace he would have won it convincingly. He's a great fighter and has the potential to beat anyone in the division I think. He has to learn to stick to his game though, keep his right hand up and not get drawn into a fight that doesn't suit him. That also happened in his fight against Jandaeng. I'll tell you thing though, Luevano is one of the toughest fighters around today. That guy will take a pin point punch right on the chin, go down, get back up without changing expression and then back to pound on the other guy and he will do it over and over. He is so easy to underestimate I think because he looks like a soft little pasty guy, but man, can he fight! Very exciting fighter. A rematch would be good for both of them actually. If Luevano fights the same way he did, then Santiago could take it if he just gave it everything he had and become champ whereas, if Luevano learns from this fight and sticks to his fight then he could take it out with his jab and beautiful counter punching pretty solidly.

mellow_moodMon Jun 30, 2008, 1:53 PM UTC

i have no problem with the result but 117-111? COME ON NOW! dont have to say nothing else.... for me it was definitly a draw.... santiago had the chance to pull it out!! and didnt push him self... !!... for me it was a draw... not because of steve.. but because of lack of desire of mario... anyway 117-111 is :bsflag:

vcassiusaliyaMon Jun 30, 2008, 7:26 AM UTC

a judge who scored 117-111 for luevano must see an opthalmologist soon. i don't know if the judge knows boxing. santiago is the better fighter going into that fight. i believe he is lightly ahead in points, but a draw is acceptable.

Mr_RyanSun Jun 29, 2008, 11:59 PM UTC

The 117-111 score they gave to Luevano was just ridiculous. At the most this is a one round swing fight. I had it for Santiago but Luevano looked like he was just absolutely drained from making the weight and was just overall slower than Santiago. Santiago should not have allowed himself to run out of gas or to allow Luevano to finish as strong.

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