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Source: Philboxing

-- A new star in boxing is born as Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel 'JuanMa' Lopez defeated future hall of famer Rafael Marquez via 8th round TKO when Marquez, after absorbing heavy punishment in the previous two rounds, refused to come out at the start of the 9th round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).

Lopez remains undefeated at 30-0-0 with 27 knockouts and has successfully defended his WBO featherweight title against the two division champion Marquez who goes down to 39-6-0.

Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez and two-division world champion RAFAEL MARQUEZ, the pride of Puerto Rico and México, respectively, weighed in last Novemeber 5, 2010 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. They will fight, November 6, 2010 at the MGM Grand.

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Source: Rick Reeno, Boxing Scene

-- Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum informed BoxingScene.com that featherweight champions Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa will not appear on the same card in the month of June. Arum plans to split them up on separate shows. Lopez will defend his WBO title against Bernabe Concepcion in the month of June. Arum wants to place undefeated Edwin Valero in the co-feature. Valero would likely make his junior welterweight debut. That doubleheader will either take place on HBO, or in the form of a Latin Fury pay-per-view event.

"Obviously we would like to place that fight on premium televison but if we can't, then we'll do a Latin Fury. Juanma will fight Bernabe Concepcion. We might have Valero on there in another fight," Arum told BoxingScene.com

Negotiations are ongoing for Gamboa to defend his WBA title against super bantamweight champion Celestino Caballero. Arum believes that card might end up in the month of July.

"Everything is going well [Gamboa-Caballero negotiations]. Gamboa is fighting on March 27 in Germany, so this fight might happen in July," Arum said.

Source: Bob Carroll, Dog House Boxing

-- Saturday night in Monterey Mexico, WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero, 27-0 (27), defended his title against the “interim” title holder Antonio DeMarco, 23-2-1 (17) by corner retirement after round nine. Valero, who seemed to want to punish the man who was granted an interim status for no apparent reason except that the WBC wanted to bill this fight as one for dominance of their belt, stalked a very overmatched DeMarco, throwing power punch after power punch. Even the Showtime announcers were wondering how much punishment DeMarco would be able to continue to sustain. Finally, and possibly a bit late, DeMarco’s corner decided to save their fighter from being beaten senseless after a very strong couple of rounds by Edwin Valero. With this win, Valero stands as the lone WBC lightweight champion, but will this fact alone make him a household name in the US? His impressive record and 100% KO ratio have not done so to the mainstream boxing community thus far, but he is a superstar in the eyes of the hardcore boxing fans and more so in the South American boxing community.

Anyone who knows me, has followed my writing career or listens to my Fightin’ Words Radio Show, knows that I am a huge mark for Manny Pacquiao. For me, Manny’s speed and surprising power mesmerizes me to the point that Manny has pulled into second place in my sports legends rankings. Manny is in second, albeit a distant second to my all time number one ranked sports legend(and the only person I consider a sports hero for all he went through because of his color) Hank Aaron. Why am I bringing up the name of Manny Pacquiao in an article about Edwin Valero? Mainly because Valero has been compared to Pacquiao in every fight since he won the WBA Super Featherweight title in 2006 over Vicente Mosquera, and rightfully so at this point. Valero has taken on every tough opponent in his way to the titles, knocking each of them out with ease. His build and demeanor are of the same as Pacquiao and at this point, the buzz on Valero is comparable to the press Pacquiao had received as a young champion. At the 27 fight mark for Pacquiao, he owned a 26-1 record, 17 by KO, had been KO’d himself and had yet to fight in the United States, let alone for a world title. But the Pacman buzz was present in the states. Edwin Valero has now won his second WORLD title, knocking out ALL comers, and never once being in any sort of trouble. So why no buzz?

The answer may lie in the Pacman craze we have today, and I am just as guilty as the next Pacamanic for this problem. Manny Pacquiao has laid the groundwork of longevity being the way to superstardom in the lower weight classes. Pacman worked his way up from flyweight to welterweight, winning championships in each of these divisions. Valero, although a flashier and seemingly more powerful puncher at this point of his career, has a bit of a way to go in the eyes of a US boxing public that has eaten up Pacquiao’s hype. Valero has fought tough opponents in his division, but has only 4 fights total in the US and has only been on American TV for the past two years. These two facts alone could answer why a fighter of Valero’s caliber has not become a sensation on the level of Pacquiao, or even guys in his own division like Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz and Anthony Peterson. Boxing fans like myself, and probably the fans taking time to read this article, have already bought into the fact that Valero has arrived as a name to be reckoned with in boxing, and probably a superstar in some of our eyes, but mainstream boxing fans have yet to be exposed. This really makes Valero the biggest superstar that boxing has not yet become to know.

On Saturday night, 2010 started off with a bang for Edwin Valero, and I am confident that it will continue to be a great year for the young Nicaraguan. He has what it takes to burst onto the main stage of the US boxing scene; excitement, power and a humbling presence. Hopefully he can continue to build a following through his contract with Shotime boxing and become the superstar that hardcore fans know him as today.

Part 1

Source: Reuters
Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel Lopez stopped American Steven Luevano in the seventh round to win the WBO featherweight title in New York Saturday.

A hard right-left combination from the challenger knocked Luevano down and although the American made it to his feet referee Benjy Esteves stopped the contest.

"It was a tough fight. He's an intelligent fighter," said Lopez, a former WBO super-bantamweight champion making his first appearance at featherweight. "It wasn't one of the toughest, but it was a little uncomfortable, because he is difficult."

The fight began cautiously with Luevano (37-2-1) trying to dictate with his jab but Lopez (28-0) took charge from the third, landing a series of jarring left hands.

Luevano rallied in the fifth, fighting well on the inside, but southpaw Lopez regained control in the sixth, cutting his opponent under the left eye and bloodying his nose.

Lopez may make a first defense of his title against Cuban exile Yuriorkis Gamboa (17-0), who knocked down Rogers Mtagwa three times in a second round stoppage in the co-main event.

Source: Dan Rafael, espn.go.com

-- This is the blueprint for building toward a big fight. It's a blueprint that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum knows very well after 40 years in boxing.

It's slow and steady and in the not too distant future he figures -- and he's probably right -- that fight fans will be begging to see a featherweight showdown between titleholders Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa.

After the performances that they each turned in on Saturday night, Arum can probably already hear the cash register humming because both looked sensational blowing out their legitimate opponents.

Lopez, a junior featherweight titleholder, moved up in weight and blitzed Steven Luevano for a one-sided seventh-round knockout to capture his second world title.

"I dream of being a world champion in four divisions. This is the second one," he said. "I'm very happy I gave the crowd a great fight."

And in the co-feature, Gamboa crushed Rogers Mtagwa in two lopsided rounds in defense of his 126-pound belt before an enthusiastic near-sellout crowd of 5,142 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

"I've got two horses and I want them to wipe out everybody in the featherweight division and when they finally meet, people will go crazy," Arum said.

Arum is as savvy as anyone. He has no intention of putting them together right away. He'll milk it, tend to it, grow it and do his best to make it into a blockbuster fight in which everyone gets paid a lot of money.

"From what I've seen tonight, I want these guys to go against every great featherweight out there," Arum said.

The first stop on the ride to the showdown he hopes will be a summer HBO card from two sites featuring Lopez defending his title at home in Puerto Rico and Gamboa defending his belt in his adopted hometown of Miami.

"We'll have just cleaned up all the featherweights and then when everyone is panting about seeing these guys fight each other, I'll do a big, big blowout kind of show," Arum said. "I promote both of them. I owe it to both of them to make them the biggest amount of money they can make. I'm not going to rush it. I can build it like a son of a gun. Then in the summer of 2011, with all the Cubans and all the Puerto Ricans, we'll talk to [New York Giants owner] Steve Tisch about putting it in the new Meadowlands Stadium.

"It's a great fight, but it's got to be the kind of fight where, even though they are only 126 pounders, they will make a s---load of money."

Arum said he would be willing to match either of them with the likes of featherweight titleholder Chris John, junior featherweight titlist Celestino Caballero and the winner of the Feb. 13 Mario Santiago-Bernabe Concepcion fight.

"Don't I owe it to my two guys to build this into the biggest fight I can? It will be a huge, huge fight, but not right now," Arum said.

It was the second consecutive card that Lopez and Gamboa have fought on together. They did so in October, when Gamboa looked terrific in a knockout victory, but Lopez was in a life-and-death battle with Mtagwa, nearly getting knocked out in the 11th and 12th rounds.

That sure wasn't the case on Saturday, when Lopez dispatched Luevano (37-2-1, 15 KOs) with surprising ease.

With the heavily Puerto Rican crowd on his side, Lopez was pitching a shutout on two scorecards going into the seventh and had lost only one round on the third card.

"I knew I had to do better than I did last time here. I had to be smart," Lopez said. "The four pounds was a big difference, moving up to 126. I knew I had to be smart and be patient, and that's what I was."

Lopez (28-0, 25 KOs), 26, had swelled up Luevano's left eye and bloodied his nose with pinpoint right hooks and uppercuts before finishing him with a series of shots.

Luevano, 28, who was making his sixth defense, collapsed in the corner and was very wobbly getting to his feet. When he stumbled taking a step forward, referee Benji Esteves called it off at 44 seconds.

Gamboa (17-0, 15 KOs) had an even easier time with Mtagwa (26-14-2, 18 KOs) and made a big statement about how the proposed future fight with Lopez might go, especially after Lopez struggled so severely with Mtagwa last fall.

Gamboa, the electrifying 28-year-old former Olympic gold medalist and Cuban defector, was not tested in the slightest. Making his second defense, Gamboa's speed was overwhelming and obvious immediately, and in the first round every punch Gamboa landed seemed to rock Mtagwa.

A left hand on top of the head knocked Mtagwa down with about 10 seconds left in the round.

It got no better for Mtagwa, 30, the rugged Philadelphia brawler originally from Tanzania.

Gamboa, who showed more patience and a tighter defense than he has in recent fights, was landing flush shots with both hands and then knocked Mtagwa down on the end of a left hand with about a minute to go in the round.

Mtagwa survived but Gamboa launched another assault and dropped him again, forcing referee Steve Smoger to call it off without a count.

"We knew he was fast but we felt we would try to get through three rounds and battle, but he just caught real bad, really early," said Joe Parella, Mtagwa's manager.

Although Mtagwa had lost to Lopez last year, he earned rave reviews for his gritty performance and the shot at Gamboa. Gamboa, however, didn't want to compare himself to Lopez.

"I hope that with this performance that nobody compares me to Juanma. He's Juanma. I am Yuriorkis Gamboa," he said. "We are two different boxers. You can't compare. I am here to demonstrate my skills. I am here to face anyone and beat anyone in my division.

"You have to look and see that we were in different weight divisions when each fought Mtagwa. I don't think you can get anything from seeing me and Mtagwa and him and Mtagawa."

When asked if he wanted to fight Lopez, Gamboa was noncommittal.

"It's in the hands of promoters," he said. "I am ready for whatever boxers they put in front of me."

Lopez agreed.

"This is business. If it makes sense, fine with me," he said of the possible future showdown. "If it makes sense now, we'll do it. If it doesn't, we'll wait. Whatever the company [Top Rank] wants. But I know eventually I'll fight him."

And if Arum has his way, we'll all be panting for it.

Duddy blows out Astorga

Middleweight John Duddy (28-1, 18 KOs) made quick work of Juan Astorga (14-4-1, 9 KOs), dropping him twice and stopping him at 1 minute, 55 seconds of the first round.

Duddy, 30, the New York-based Ireland native, had a large contingent of fans in the crowd and they were excited when he dropped Astorga, 31, of Texas, early in the round with a right hand high on his head.

Astorga did not appear hurt from the knockdown but he didn't last much longer as Duddy landed a left to the body that dropped him again as referee Wayne Kelly called it off.

Duddy will next fight March 13 on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. If he wins that fight, Duddy will be back on June 12 on the undercard of the almost-finalized Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto fight at Madison Square Garden. Arum mentioned former "Contender" star Jimmy Lange as a possible opponent for the June fight; Lange isn't available for March.

Duddy, once considered as a challenger for middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, was rebuilding from a surprising split-decision loss in April 2008 to Billy Lyell, who, coincidentally, landed a title shot on Saturday as a late replacement to face Sebastian Sylvester in Germany next week.

Duddy rebounded from the loss to outpoint Michi Munoz at the Garden Theater in October on another card featuring Lopez and Gamboa.