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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who held the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

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, ...

title. He was trained by the former IBF Super Featherweight Champion Robert Garcia.

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 IBF

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, ...

Champion Cristobal Cruz.

WBO Featherweight Championship

On July 14, 2007, Luevano won the Vacant

Championship by upsetting an undefeated and the future

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

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, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...

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 triple champion, world championships in three weight classes between 1995 and 2007, from super bantamwei ...

. 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, national flag of Mexico () 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 the meani ...

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 on the

David Diaz David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the Kings of Israel and Judah, third king of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stel ...

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 operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus Enterprises and complete ...

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 (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 Juan Manuel Lopez. This was his only knockout loss.

Professional boxing record

Retirement

While only 29 years old and still in his prime, Steven decided to retire from boxing, following his loss to Juan Manuel Lopez. During his professional career, Steven Luevano won the WBO NABO

Super Bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, 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 sanct ...

, WBC Continental Americas

, WBO NABO

, and made six defences of his

Championship.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Luevano, Steven 1981 births Living people American male boxers People from La Puente, California American boxers of Mexican descent southpaw boxers World featherweight boxing champions Super-bantamweight boxers World Boxing Organization champions