Saturday at New York Featherweight Juan Manuel Lopez TKO7 Steven Luevano Wins a featherweight title Records: Lopez, 28-0, 25 KOs; Luevano, 37-2-1, 15 KOs
Rafael’s remark: In October, Lopez struggled mightily in a junior featherweight title defense against Rogers Mtagwa at Madison Square Garden. Lopez barely hung on to make it to the final bell after being nearly knocked out at the end of the 11th round and getting batted around the ring for the entire 12th round. But that hellish night seems like a long time ago after seeing Lopez’s outstanding performance in the main event of HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” on Saturday in MSG, with a raucous, near-sellout crowd of 5,142 (mostly Puerto Ricans) almost all rooting for him. Lopez was moving up in weight and challenging the steady Luevano, 28, a fellow southpaw who had made six title defenses and faced some quality opponents. But he just didn’t have enough firepower to keep Lopez, 26, off of him. Lopez dominated the fight. His punches were much heavier than Luevano’s and they took their toll. Luevano, of La Puente, Calif., had a bloody nose and a swollen left eye. He ate a ton of shots and had only won a single round on one scorecard going into the seventh round. That’s when a furious Lopez attack dumped Luevano to the canvas near the ropes. He was very shaky as he got to his feet to beat the count, but his legs were a mess, and referee Benji Esteves wisely called it off.
It was a terrific performance for the Puerto Rican star, who did his thing with famed countrymen Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto at ringside. The victory gave Lopez a title in his second weight class — he hopes to someday win titles in four divisions. Combined with featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa’s flawless destruction of Mtagwa in the co-feature, the drum beat continued for an eventual Lopez-Gamboa clash. They appeared together on the October card and again on this one. Now, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who wants to build their fight into a mega event, would like them to fight on the same HBO date from separate fights in the spring. He’d like to put Lopez in Puerto Rico against a top opponent and Gamboa in his adopted hometown of Miami against another quality opponent. Arum ran off a list of names, including titleholder Chris John, unified junior featherweight titlist Celestino Caballero, Bernabe Concepcion and Mario Santiago, and said he wouldn’t shy away from matching Lopez and Gamboa with anyone. He claimed he wanted Lopez and Gamboa to clean out the 126-pound division until they were the last two standing before matching them in a fight the public would be salivating for. If Arum really matches them with good opponents in the interim, great. If he wants to just milk them for a few more fights against lesser opponents while making us wait for the big one, no thanks. He says he wants the former route. Let’s see if he delivers.
Featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa TKO2 Rogers Mtagwa Retains a featherweight title Records: Gamboa, 17-0, 15 KOs; Mtagwa, 26-14-2, 18 KOs
Rafael’s remark: Gamboa is absolutely electrifying to watch and his hand speed is incredible. Has there been a faster fighter in the sport since Meldrick Taylor was in his prime? Gamboa, 28, the 2004 Cuban Olympic gold medalist who defected after a brilliant amateur career, might be even faster than the best of Floyd Mayweather, Roy Jones, Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley. Seriously. Mtagwa, 30, of Philadelphia but born in Tanzania, is no slow poke, but he looked like he was in neutral while Gamboa looked like he was in fifth gear as soon as the fight began. At one point in the fight, it looked like Gamboa got off five punches before Mtagwa could even put his hands up.
Mtagwa was tapped for the fight because of his excellent performance against Juan Manuel Lopez in their October junior featherweight title bout. Top Rank has designs on an eventual Lopez-Gamboa showdown, so what better way to compare them then by having them face the same solid opponent in consecutive fights? Mtagwa had given Lopez everything he could possibly handle when they met, coming pretty darn close to knocking Lopez out in the 11th and 12th rounds in one of the best fights of 2009. But against Gamboa, he had no chance — he was a sitting duck. While Gamboa dispatched him quickly, he actually showed some patience for a change. In Gamboa’s early fights, he’s been wild as wild can be, going right after his opponent and often leaving himself open defensively, which is why he’s been knocked down several times. However, he seems to be fighting in a bit more of a controlled, professional style the past couple of fights. He looked sensational against Mtagwa. He took his time and still scored a knockdown in the first round when he landed a left hand on the top of Mtagwa’s head in the final seconds of the round. In the second round, it was only a matter of time until the fight was over. Gamboa was pounding him with everything and dropped him again with about a minute left. A few seconds later, referee Steve Smoger properly called it off as Mtagwa went down again under heavy fire.
As explosive and exciting as Gamboa is to watch, and as much as many of us would love to see him face Lopez, a word about the bogus belt given to him by the rancid WBA for no apparent reason: Chris John is the WBA titleholder, but was elevated to “super champion” even though he is not a unified titleholder. Gamboa, who defended his trinket for the second time, certainly has the talent to be a legitimate champion and he might be one someday. But he isn’t yet, not when the WBA just gives out belts for no reason other than a few bucks. The fight that should be made is John against Gamboa. Although Top Rank’s Bob Arum doesn’t promote John, he said it’s a fight he’d like to do as he builds toward a potential Lopez-Gamboa super showdown. Middleweight John Duddy KO1 Juan Astorga Records: Duddy, 28-1, 17 KOs; Astorga, 14-4-1, 9 KOs
Rafael’s remark: In 2008, Duddy was considered as a potential opponent for middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, but a poor performance and serious cuts against Walid Smichet killed the fight, and uneven performances after that didn’t help. Neither did an upset loss to Billy Lyell in April. But Ireland’s Duddy is still a good attraction in New York, where he is based, and his fans turn out. He sure didn’t disappoint against Astorga in winning his second in a row since the loss to Lyell. Astorga, 31, who dropped to 2-3 in his past five, was never in the fight. The Texas native couldn’t last two minutes. Duddy dropped him with a decent right hand on the top of the head. It was more of a flash knockdown than anything too serious. The next solid shot from Duddy, however, was more damaging. It was a left to the body that dropped him again and referee Wayne Kelly called it off without completing his count. Duddy’s fans were overjoyed by the victory if the noise level inside the Theater at Madison Square Garden was any indication. Top Rank has the rest of Duddy’s year plotted out. If all goes as planned, he’ll be back in action March 13 on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at Cowboys Stadium, followed by a slot on the June 12 Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto card that is in the works for the Garden’s main arena. After that, a pay-per-view headline fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. looms at the end of the year. Junior middleweight Pawel Wolak W8 Ishmail Arvin Scores: 80-72, 79-73 (twice) Records: Wolak, 26-1, 17 KOs; Arvin, 15-2-4, 7 KOs
Rafael’s remark: Wolak, 28, who was born in Poland but lives in New Jersey, has a nice fan base that turns out to see him fight, which is why he was on the card. His fans weren’t disappointed, either, as he methodically pounded out a decision against the less-active Arvin, 34, of Baltimore. Arvin inflicted a nice shiner around Wolak’s left eye, but it was Wolak who easily won the fight with his continual punch output. It was Wolak’s second consecutive solid performance on a Juan Manuel Lopez undercard. In October, he roughed up Brazil’s Carlos Nascimento for a fifth-round TKO victory. Look for Wolak to return in April or so in an appearance on a “Top Rank Live” card on Fox Sports Net. Arvin dropped to 1-2-2 in his past five fights. Featherweight Jorge Diaz KO1 Tommy Atencio Records: Diaz, 12-0, 8 KOs; Atencio, 4-4, 2 KOs
Rafael’s remark: However far Diaz advances in his career, one thing is for sure — he’s awfully fun to watch. The 22-year-old from New Jersey, who has the late Arturo Gatti’s team behind him in manager Pat Lynch and trainer Mikey Skowronski, brings fans to the arena and gives them everything he has. Against Atencio, however, he didn’t have to give them much because it was an easy fight. First, he dropped the Denver resident with a right hand to the chin. Atencio survived the knockdown but was soon down again and in agony. Diaz charged at him after the first knockdown and landed a body shot. It didn’t seem too damaging, but as Atencio stepped back, he badly twisted his right knee and went down. He was clearly in pain and could not beat the count because his knee was so messed up.
Saturday at Pasay City, Philippines Junior flyweight Carlos Tamara TKO12 Brian Viloria Wins a junior flyweight title Records: Tamara, 21-4, 15 KOs; Viloria, 26-3, 15 KOs
Rafael’s remark: It’s another chapter in the up-and-down career of Viloria, the Filipino-American from Hawaii and 2000 U.S. Olympian. In April, Viloria claimed his second junior flyweight title with a crushing 11th-round knockout of long-reigning titleholder Ulises Solis in front of an adoring crowd in the Philippines. Viloria’s career was on the upswing after some disappointing performances. He made one defense at home in Hawaii in August and was returning to the Philippines for his second title defense. Tamara, 26, a native of Colombia living in New Jersey, was not expected to be all that difficult of an opponent. In his only previous title bout, he lost a lopsided decision to Omar Narvaez challenging for his flyweight belt in January 2008. Viloria, 29, appeared in control of the fight, at least through the first nine rounds. Going into the 12th round, Viloria led 106-103 and 105-104 on two scorecards while Tamara led 105-104 on the third. But Tamara had been coming on since the ninth round, throwing combinations as Viloria began to fade. By the 12th round, Viloria simply appeared out of gas. He was throwing single shot punches with no leverage just to try to keep Tamara off of him. He even threw one so wildly and missed that he slipped to the canvas. Eventually, Tamara caught him with some solid shots. When he caught Viloria again with a big shot along the ropes — and Viloria was not defending himself — referee Bruce McTavish intervened and Tamara had the upset. Viloria, who had a cut over his left eye, was exhausted afterward, needed oxygen and complained of a headache. He was later taken to the hospital for observation and some tests. He was expected to spend two days in the hospital but wouldn’t be cleared to fly back to the United States for 10 to 14 days to ensure that he had no brain swelling or that a possible concussion is no longer an issue. The loss cost Viloria a lucrative fight with Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon, the recognized 108-pound champ. That unification fight had been in the works for later in the year. Junior flyweight Donnie Nietes TKO10 Jesus Silvestre Records: Nietes, 26-1-3, 15 KOs; Silvestre, 15-2, 12 KOs
Rafael’s remark: Nietes, 27, of the Philippines, was supposed to make the fourth defense of his 105-pound belt, however multiple opponents fell out, including Ivan Meneses. So Mexico’s Silvestre, who was on a seven-fight winning streak, came aboard. However, because he was not in the WBO’s rankings, the fight became a nontitle bout (at 107 pounds) scheduled for 10 rounds. It turned out to be a nice little scrap, especially considering how quickly it was thrown together. Silvestre survived a first-round knockdown and did his best to hang in against the better man before being stopped.
