Preview and Prediction: Juan Manuel Lopez V Steve Luevano

January 23^rd sees the return of Juan Manuel Lopez as he steps up to Featherweight for the first time as he attempts to dethrone American Steve Luevano in Madison Square Garden. A fight that promises to answer some questions about Lopez as Bob Arum and Top Rank try to angle to a fight between Lopez and Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa. Lopez is seen as the ideal replacement for Miguel Cotto as far as the next great Puerto Rican fighter and after his war with the tough Rogers Mtagwa at Super Bantamweight (where Lopez is the current WBO champion) he'll have to impress. Luevano on the other hand is being lined up as the sacrificial lamb being put to the proverbial slaughter.

Lopez was a monstrous puncher and having been the WBO Super Bantamweight champion since scoring a first round KO over the then champion Daniel Ponce De Leon in June 2008. He racked up 5 defences (the first two lasted less than a round each) and was being massively touted as the next big thing in boxing as a fighter who is now only 26 the future still looks bright. Though his last few fights seemed to prove he wasn't the murderous puncher some thought he was as he took 9 rounds to stop Oliver Lontchi and then he was almost stopped against Rogers Mtagwa. Some put it down to over confidence others said it was weight drain in a fight that was used to try and set up a bout with Gamboa. If it was confidence he'd better realise Luevano is far from incompetent though if it was weight drain I'd worry for Luevano as "Juanma" may be growing into his body, and if that's the case he'll be a problem for anyone. A heavy handed fighter with speed and heart as well as a likeable smile and an eye catching style he has "super star" written all over him, though the questions raised in the fight with Mtagwa have finally shown some chinks in him.

Luevano is a skilful and speedy fighter who beat Britain's Nicky Cook for the WBO Featherweight title back in July of 2007 with a rather rare stoppage for the American who is 37-1-1 (15KO's). Having made 5 defences of his title (winning 4 drawing 1) he's stepping up significantly in perceived danger to fight the heavy handed Puerto Rican however many feel he's unlucky to have a draw and a loss on his record with some feeling he should be 39-0. Though lacking in power, the Cook stoppage the only one since 2005 he's slick and skilled even though he seems to regularly be given scores that are closer than the fights appear. His last fight was a DQ win against Bernabe Concepcion when the challenger landed a huge shot after the bell. In that fight Luevano took a few rounds to get going though was starting to control the fight. Luevano may well be one of the fighters that isn't known by the arm chair fans but ranked #2 by Ring magazine at the weight and having had a win against the #3 and #6 he's a top fighter.

The prediction on the fight is that Luevano will either start slow and be severely hurt, if not stopped, almost straight from the off as he is often a slow starter. Or he'll start quickly and try to keep Lopez on the move from the off, he's a solid enough fighter to test Lopez's power at the new weight though it's hard not to see Lopez winning. He'll want to prove the hard fight with Mtagwa was just him being foolish and turning it into a war he'll want to force a fight with Gamboa (who fights Mtagwa on the same card with the idea to link up the 2 winners) and will need an impressive win here to force in the "regular" WBA champion at the weight. If Luevano starts slowly Lopez will win with in 5, if he starts quickly it may go 8 or 9 but Luevano won't hit hard enough to discourage Lopez from looking for the kill. Rather peculiarly both fighters are the same height and have the same reach which means the "bigger" man won't have the normal advantage over fighters coming up.

Prediction:
Lopez rounds 6-10 TKO.