by: eastsideboxing
NEW YORK (December 3, 2009) – World champions JUAN MANUEL “JuanMa” LOPEZ, STEVEN LUEVANO and YURIORKIS GAMBOA, and Top-10 contender ROGERS MTAGWA will kickoff the new decade in separate world featherweight title fights, Saturday, January 23, in the WaMu Theater in the “Mecca of Boxing,” Madison Square Garden. Lopez, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion, will be moving up to challenge WBO featherweight titlist STEVEN LUEVANO, while Gamboa defends his World Boxing Association championship belt against top-10 contender ROGERS MTAGWA. Both fights will be televised live on HBO on the 2010 premiere telecast of Boxing After Dark, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast.) These four sluggers boast a combined record of 106-14-3 (71 KOs), a winning percentage of 86% and a victory by knockout ratio of 67%.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Arena Boxing U.S. and PR Best Boxing, tickets, priced at $200, $100, $75 and $50, go on sale Today! Thursday, December 3 at Noon, and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, and online at www.thegarden.com.
“These four exciting fighters are about to usher in a new era at the “Mecca of Boxing” in one of boxing’s flagship divisions,” said promoter Bob Arum. “Like Henry Armstrong, Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler before them, these four gladiators will reunite Madison Square Garden and the featherweight division to their former glory..”
Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, is in the second year of his world title reign, which began on June 7, 2008 when he ended the three-year tenure of defending champion Daniel Ponce De Leon via a first-round knockout. Lopez, already a Top-10 pound for pound favorite, has successfully defended his title five times since, four by knockout. In his last defense, an exciting 12-round unanimous decision victory over Mtagwa, Lopez’s impressive victory by stoppage streak ended at 14. Lopez was named Puerto Rico’s 2008 “Fighter of the Year” where he went 4-0, (4 KOs), including three first-round knockouts, all in world championship fights. Looking to repeat, he posted another perfect year in 2009, having stopped two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa and undefeated North American Boxing Association (NABA) super bantamweight champion Olivier Lontchi in 10 and 9 rounds, respectively, this year in addition to his points win over Mtagwa.
A native of East Los Angeles, Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KOs), of La Puente, Calif., captured the vacant WBO featherweight title in London in 2007, knocking out undefeated Englishman Nicky Cook in the 11th round. Since then, Luevano has successfully defended his title five times during his two-year reign against top-rated, world-class opposition, including Bernabe Concepcion (21-1-1, 17 KOs), Billy Dib (21-0, 11 KOs), Mario Santiago (19-1, 14 KOs), Terdsak Jandaeng (29-2, 19 KOs), and Antonio Davis (24-3, 12 KOs). Combined, his world title challengers had a combined record of 114-7-1 (73 KOs) – a winning percentage of 93% with a victory by knockout ratio of 64%. In short, Luevano gets his business done. Trained by former world champion Robert Garcia, and Robert’s father Eduardo, Luevano and his corner boasts a team that is poised, confident and experienced against very good opposition.
NEW YORK (December 3, 2009) – World champions JUAN MANUEL “JuanMa” LOPEZ, STEVEN LUEVANO and YURIORKIS GAMBOA, and Top-10 contender ROGERS MTAGWA will kickoff the new decade in separate world featherweight title fights, Saturday, January 23, in the WaMu Theater in the “Mecca of Boxing,” Madison Square Garden. Lopez, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion, will be moving up to challenge WBO featherweight titlist STEVEN LUEVANO, while Gamboa defends his World Boxing Association championship belt against top-10 contender ROGERS MTAGWA. Both fights will be televised live on HBO on the 2010 premiere telecast of Boxing After Dark, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast.) These four sluggers boast a combined record of 106-14-3 (71 KOs), a winning percentage of 86% and a victory by knockout ratio of 67%.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Arena Boxing U.S. and PR Best Boxing, tickets, priced at $200, $100, $75 and $50, go on sale Today! Thursday, December 3 at Noon, and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, and online at www.thegarden.com.
“These four exciting fighters are about to usher in a new era at the “Mecca of Boxing” in one of boxing’s flagship divisions,” said promoter Bob Arum. “Like Henry Armstrong, Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler before them, these four gladiators will reunite Madison Square Garden and the featherweight division to their former glory..”
Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, is in the second year of his world title reign, which began on June 7, 2008 when he ended the three-year tenure of defending champion Daniel Ponce De Leon via a first-round knockout. Lopez, already a Top-10 pound for pound favorite, has successfully defended his title five times since, four by knockout. In his last defense, an exciting 12-round unanimous decision victory over Mtagwa, Lopez’s impressive victory by stoppage streak ended at 14. Lopez was named Puerto Rico’s 2008 “Fighter of the Year” where he went 4-0, (4 KOs), including three first-round knockouts, all in world championship fights. Looking to repeat, he posted another perfect year in 2009, having stopped two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa and undefeated North American Boxing Association (NABA) super bantamweight champion Olivier Lontchi in 10 and 9 rounds, respectively, this year in addition to his points win over Mtagwa.
A native of East Los Angeles, Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KOs), of La Puente, Calif., captured the vacant WBO featherweight title in London in 2007, knocking out undefeated Englishman Nicky Cook in the 11th round. Since then, Luevano has successfully defended his title five times during his two-year reign against top-rated, world-class opposition, including Bernabe Concepcion (21-1-1, 17 KOs), Billy Dib (21-0, 11 KOs), Mario Santiago (19-1, 14 KOs), Terdsak Jandaeng (29-2, 19 KOs), and Antonio Davis (24-3, 12 KOs). Combined, his world title challengers had a combined record of 114-7-1 (73 KOs) – a winning percentage of 93% with a victory by knockout ratio of 64%. In short, Luevano gets his business done. Trained by former world champion Robert Garcia, and Robert’s father Eduardo, Luevano and his corner boasts a team that is poised, confident and experienced against very good opposition.
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