Steven "Steve" Luevano (born March 3, 1981) is an American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who held the WBO

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title. He was trained by the former

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

Super Featherweight Champion Robert Garcia. He is remembered for his success inside the ring, with his only professional losses coming to

Juan Manuel Lopez ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish language, Spanish and Manx language, Manx versions of ''John (given name), John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronoun ...

and Martin Honorio.

Amateur career

Steven fought on the Mexican National amateur team. He is the 1997 National Jr. Olympic amateur champion at 119 pounds and had almost 300 amateur bouts before entering the pro ranks.

Pro career

Luevano turned pro in 2000 and defeated many talented veterans including a win over future

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

Champion Cristobal Cruz.

WBO Featherweight Championship

On July 14, 2007, Luevano won the Vacant WBO

Championship by upsetting an undefeated and the future

Super Featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

WBO champion Nicky Cook by K.O. On October 6, 2007, Steven Luevano (34-1, 15 KOs) defended his WBO Featherweight title, unanimously defeating 35-year-old Antonio "T-Rex" Davis (24-4) on the undercard of

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Philip ...

and

Marco Antonio Barrera Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia (born January 17, 1974) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO junior featherweight title twice betwe ...

. On March 15 Luevano defended his title magnificently against Thailands Terdsak Jandaeng (29-2-0) winning unanimously. In this pay-per-view fight he landed a featherweight boxing record for most jabs landed. Even though Steven was born in the United States, he came to the ring with the

Mexican flag The national flag of Mexico ( es, Bandera de México) is a vertical Tricolour (flag), tricolor of green, white, and red with Coat of arms of Mexico, the national coat of arms charge (heraldry), charged in the center of the white stripe. While t ...

instead, thus leading the boxing world to believe the fact that Luevano was a Mexican boxer. Steven Luevano was tested in his 3rd defense against

Mario Santiago Mario Santiago Figueroa (born July 13, 1978) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. Santiago debuted as a professional in 2000, and is the current World Boxing Council Caribbean Featherweight Champion. Amateur career Santiago Figueroa star ...

on the David Diaz-

undercard at

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus ...

Events Center on June 28, 2008. Luevano retained his 126-pound belt via split draw against Santiago. Judge Harry Davis scored it 117-111 for Luevano, Duane Ford had it 115-113 for Santiago and Dave Moretti had it 114-114. ESPN.com also had it 114-114. Luevano landed 215 of 641 punches (34%) while Santiago connected on 214 of 835 (26%). On October 18, 2008, Luevano defeated

Billy Dib Bilal Dib (born 17 August 1985), known as Billy Dib, is an Australian professional boxer. He held the IBF featherweight title from 2011 to 2013, and the IBO super-featherweight title in 2008. Early years Dib was born on 17 August 1985 at ...

of Australia (21-0-0) for his 4th defense by unanimous decision. On August 15, 2009, Luevano successfully defended his title for a 5th time via disqualification against

Bernabe Concepcion Bernabe "Abe" Concepcion (born 1988) is a retired Filipino featherweight boxer. Concepcion resides in Rizal, Viga, Catanduanes, Philippines. Being from a boxing-oriented family, he trained from a young age. He turned professional at the age of 16 ...

(29-1-2). Luevano was ahead on the scorecards when Concepcion landed late blows after the bell at the end of the seventh round, resulting in Concepcion being disqualified. Luevano ultimately lost his title on January 23, 2010, as he was stopped in the 7th round by former WBO junior bantamweight champion

. This was his only knockout loss.

Retirement

While only 29 years old and still in his prime, Steven decided to retire from boxing, following his loss to

. During his professional career, Steven Luevano won the WBO NABO

Super Bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

, WBC Continental Americas

, WBO NABO

, and made six defences of his WBO

Championship.

References

External links