Rodgers Mtagwa in for Gamboa's WBA World title

[Che Guevara]

Juanma Lopez vs Luevano, Gamboa vs Mtagwa on Jan 23

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.

Gamboa (16-0, 14 KOs), a native of Guantanamo who now hails from Miami, Fla., has been considered one of boxing’s brightest lights dating back to his amateur days, which included winning Olympic gold at the 2004 games. Since making his professional debut in 2007, Gamboa has sought – and defeated – the toughest and most experienced opposition available. In only his second year as a professional he collected the NABF and WBC International super featherweight titles and then moved down in weight to collect the NABO featherweight title in three consecutive fights, with victories over Johnnie Edwards, Darling Jimenez and Al Seeger, respectively, destroying Edwards and Seeger in the first round while winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Jimenez.. He captured the WBA featherweight title on April 17, knocking out four-time world title challenger Jose Rojas in the 10th round. He successfully defended the title on October 10 at The Garden, knocking out Panamanian strongman Whyber Garcia in the fourth round. The two-fisted Cuban KO artist boasts a lethal combination of power and speed, an amateur background second to none (he is a four-time Gold Medal winner in the Cuban National Championships) and a victory by knockout ratio that’s on par with JuanMa Lopez.

Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18 KOs), a native of Dodoma, Tanzania, who has been compared to the great Dick Tiger because of his heritage and his improvement with age, has made Philadelphia, Penn. his base since moving to the U.S. in 2000. The former African Boxing Union super bantamweight champion has incrementally advanced his career by fighting and defeating some of the best competition at 122 and 126 pounds. But his “coming out party” on the world stage occurred in his last fight when he challenged world champion Juan Manuel Lopez for his WBO junior featherweight title at The Garden in October. Mtagwa was the star of the night, trading leather with JuanMa for 12 exciting rounds, pushing the champ to the brink before the final bell rang. Though the judges’ scores reflected a decision loss for Mtagwa, the fight proved he was a winner, earning him another world title shot, this time against Gamboa. Mtagwa’s career highlights include winning the vacant U.S. Boxing Association (USBA) featherweight title in 2005 via a 10th-round TKO of Joe Morales. He successfully defended the title twice, knocking out Art Simonyan and Alvin Brown, both in the fourth round. His come-from-behind 10th-round TKO victory over Tomas Villas last year, ending Villa’s three-year, 12-bout unbeaten streak, was considered a 2008 Fight of the Year candidate. Currently world-rated No. 7 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 10 by the WBO, Mtagwa is trained by Bobby “Boogaloo” Watts, one of only three men to have beaten Marvelous Marvin Hagler. For fight week updates, log on to www.toprank.com and www.hbo.com/boxing

 

[Kana-Ka-Nsungu]

Kijana wetu yuko juu......

Secondsout Fight of the Year: Juan Manual "Juanma" Lopez vs Rogers Mtagwa


Fri 25-Dec-2009 12:11

By Jerry Glick:
When an undefeated champion defends his throne against a challenger with 12 losses, there is only one word to describe it; mismatch. So one sided did it appear that WBO Junior-Featherweight belt holder Juan Manual "Juanma" Lopez, 28-0 (24 KOs), tried to make it look like a viable match by repeating on more than one occasion leading up to the fight that his Challenger, Rogers Mtagwa, 25-13-2 (18 KOs), was better than his numbers made him look. As it turned out, Juanma did not know how correct he was.

At the end of the day the young champion prevailed on the judges' scorecards, retaining his title in what would turn out to be Secondsout's Fight of the Year for 2009.

Lopez dominated the early going, but the super tough veteran challenger showed his metal and courage by working his way into the fight. The younger champion was the one who would run out of gas, not the older man.

While it did not appear that Mtagwa would be able to come back after being so thoroughly out fought over the first five rounds, he did, and in fact almost had Lopez out in the final heat with the champion stumbling around the ring with a completely empty tank.

Lopez' punch output percentage was in the 50% range over the first four rounds but dropped to about a 35% average of punches landed in the fifth and sixth rounds as the fight began to shift. In the end the total punch stat report showed that overall Lopez landed punches at a rate of 39% against Mtagwa's 36%. Lopez landed 327 out of 836 thrown, while Mtagwa landed 216 out of 606 thrown overall, according to Compubox. Lopez' numbers may have been better but they indicate a competitive fight which is just what this was.

This was a thrilling fight between two men who would not be denied. They traded punches for twelve glorious rounds that had the fans screaming. The crowd was filled with a large contingent of Puerto Rican fans there to cheer for their hero, Lopez. They were part of the five thousand fans (capacity) in the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

As the pace picked up there was serious damage done to both. At times it was Mtagwa who was hurt from a Lopez punch, then he would land something that put Lopez in trouble.

Lopez controlled the first half of the fight using movement and counterpunching, but Mtagwa remained in the fight. He was not nearly as effective, but he showed tremendous heart. Mtagwa missed often, but he could take the punches that Lopez tossed at him, and Lopez landed some powerful punches staggering his foe only to see Mtagwa roar back with heavy punches of his own. Lopez had a huge swelling under his left eye in the third and it began to bleed in the forth. Mtagwa went to the canvas in the fifth, but it was only a flash knockdown, no damage done.

Soon all pretense of a boxing match began to fade into a war of attrition.

As Mtagwa closed the gap in last half of the fight, Lopez was by now, running out of gas. By the twelfth and last round Lopez' gauge was on empty.

Mtagwa drove Lopez across the ring again and again, but Lopez refused to go down in that last stanza. For Lopez, who displayed tremendous heart in the twelfth round, it was the longest three minutes of his life. It was one of the most dramatic rounds ever fought. It was the last round of an epic battle between two brave warriors. Lopez was fortunate that Mtagwa was tired too, or simply could not punch accurately in that thrilling twelfth round.

The fight was divided very distinctly; the first half was, according to the three Judges, all Lopez, as they gave him all six rounds scoring it, 60-53 for Lopez. The final six rounds of the twelve rounder belonged to Mtagwa. In the second half the Judges had Mtagwa leading 58-55, 58-56, and 60-54.

Overall the fight was scored 115-111, 116-111, and 114-113, all for Lopez. Eddie Cotton refereed.

Everything that defines a Fight of the Year quality fight can be ascribed here. These two men never quit no matter what was happening. They fought through adversity, and in the end they both triumphed. All this reporter can say is "uno mas!"

PUNCHLINES

It is amazing that Lopez was credited with landing 9 punches in the twelfth round, the one where he was barely able to remain upright. But what is even more amazing are the 94 punches thrown in that round by Juanma according to Compubox. Even in desperate shape Lopez was able to throw punches. It broke down to sixteen jabs and 78 power punches thrown by Lopez. Amazing, but, after all, it was the best fight of 2009.

 

[Mlango wa gunia]

Ukiangalia mapambano ya Kijana wetu Mtagwa aliyopigana na Thomas Villa na lile la Juan Manuel Lopez utaona kuwa ndugu yetu anajitahidi sana kusimama ulingoni japo anahitaji marekebisho ktk upiganaji wake kwani anaruhusu ngumi nyingi sana kwa uso.Binafsi ninamkubali kwa kuwa na roho saba kama paka, mpinzani wake asitegemee kumaliza pambano kirahisi.Nina matumaini nae kuwa siku moja atakuwa na jina kubwa.Inshalaah juhudi zake zitazaa matunda.

 

[Kana-Ka-Nsungu]

Ukiangalia mapambano ya Kijana wetu Mtagwa aliyopigana na Thomas Villa na lile la Juan Manuel Lopez utaona kuwa ndugu yetu anajitahidi sana kusimama ulingoni japo anahitaji marekebisho ktk upiganaji wake kwani anaruhusu ngumi nyingi sana kwa uso.Binafsi ninamkubali kwa kuwa na roho saba kama paka, mpinzani wake asitegemee kumaliza pambano kirahisi.Nina matumaini nae kuwa siku moja atakuwa na jina kubwa.Inshalaah juhudi zake zitazaa matunda.

Jina ni kubwa sana, tumuombee tu sasa ajaaliwe kutwaa ubingwa wa dunia. Nakubalia na wewe, anapaswa kufanya kazi ya ziada kuimprove defence yake na pia asiwe anarusha ngumi zisizokuwa na maana, anarusha ngumi nyingi lakini asilimia kubwa zimamiss na hii humchosha kwa sana.

 

[Mlango wa gunia]

umemchambua vizuri zaidi hakika matatizo yake ni hayo mawili tu so far,defence na kurusha hovyo vinginevyo atatutoa kidedea siku hiyo.Ila STAMINA yake ni A1.