By Ryan Burton

Junior middleweight contender Willie Nelson (20-1-1) is just hours away from his HBO debut when he faces Luciano Cuello at the Foxwoods Casino tonight in Connecticut. The Lou DiBella promoted fighter visited with us on a recent edition of BoxingScene Radio and said that Cuello is similar to the most recent opponent he faced, Michael Medina. Nelson blasted Medina out in the first round of their ESPN televised fight.

"I have to pretty much keep him going back. He can't fight going backwards which showed when he fought Canelo Alvarez.  He kind of panics. I can use my jab and straight right hand," Nelson explained.

"There isn't much difference between his style and Medina's style. I will have to adjust a few things though because he is a busier fighter and he can punch which you can see in the quality of fighters he's faced."

Nelson's lone defeat came against Vincent Arroyo. The nearly 6'4" Nelson struggled to get under the 145 pound catchweight limit for the fight.  Nelson bounced back by giving two prospects their first losses. Even with those wins, he still feels that he is being overlooked in his division.

"With the Vincent Arroyo loss (happening), after I beat Yudel Jhonson I didn't get too much credit. Then when I beat John Jackson I didn't get much credit.  But after the Michael Medina fight I think it started to change. But yeah I think people still think I'm just an okay fighter after that fight," Nelson told BoxingScene Radio.

Cuello's only losses have came at the hands of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez. Nelson said that he will compare his performance against the Argentine against what they did to see where he is at in his career.

"I don't want to look past him but he's pretty much a measuring stick like when I fought Michael Medina. It shows if I am ready for the big boys. Comparing to how Canelo and Chavez did against him," Nelson stated.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety by clicking here: http://tobtr.com/s/4899119

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