Not too sure - saw Luevano against Nicky Cook few years back when luevano destroyed cook. And cooks a good fighter. since then ive followed Luevano and would say its a good calculated bet thats worth the risk. However being in the uk i havent seen an enormous amount of lopez although i know hes a puncher and theres a lot of hype around him - and theres no smoke without fire. Thought the plan was for luevano to be a tough "stepping stone" for Lopez and for him to meet Gamboa and a great fight.
thats not a bad line for a champ who has a challenger coming up in weight....its in ny..ill be there with a few puerto ricans...and i suspect there will be quite a few of them in attendance....u really think bob arum is gonna let juanma lose if he isnt ko'd or brutally battered?
Keep in mind Juanma is one of Arum's young golden tickets. While Luevano is also young and also signed with Top Rank, Arum obviously doesn't view him having the same potential as Juanma. Add to the fact that Luevano can't punch thru a wet paper bag. It really limits Luevano's options of winning, since he won't stop Juanma and his chances of winning on points is unlikely. He'd have to win 8 rounds just to get a draw IMO.. If it goes to the cards, Arum is not going to let Juanma lose a close fight to a boring fighter like Luevano. I just can't see it happening.. Luevano will have to absolutely dominate to win this fight. Luevano is playing the role of sacrificial lamb here. DO NOT bet on him!
I am thinking that Luevano could pull this one off. In the Concepcion fight Luevano was able to neutralize Concepcion's power. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGfFSP7A-jQ[/ame]
He shouldn't be that big an underdog based on the actual in-ring ability of he and Lopez, but it isn't surprising. Lopez is the type of kid that's a hype-magnet...people don't go into hysterical frenzies over guys like Luevano. He's the archetype of "good but unexciting". Lopez is also good - not much better, if at all - but he's good and exciting, which influences people and skews otherwise sound and objective analytical skills.
