Courtesy our friends at CompuBox, the full stats for both of last night's NYC main fights is available after the jump. Gamboa's second round numbers are utterly absurd.

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Though it wasn't as rousing or spectacular as Yuriorkis Gamboa's two-round blitzing of Roger Mtagwa in the co-feature, Juan Manuel Lopez dominated and knocked out Steven Luevano in seven rounds, winning the WBO featherweight title in his first fight at 126 pounds.

Lopez (28-0, 25 KO) looked a bit sluggish early, and overly tentative, but by the fourth round or so, it was clear he was in firm control of the fight. Luevano (37-2-1, 15 KO) never did establish any rhythm or consistency in the fight, and really never troubled Lopez.

It was Luevano's sixth defense of the title he won in 2007. It was also his first loss inside the distance. The stoppage came just 44 seconds into the seventh round.

Lopez is now on track to fight Gamboa this summer if all stays according to plan. That fight will generate a lot of interest for both men, as they're two of the best young fighters in the sport today. Lopez may have lost some hype momentum while Gamboa has gained even more, but it's still a tremendously intriguing fight. Those guys can punch, and styles make fights.

We'll have more tomorrow. Thank you for joining us tonight for the first big card of 2010, and rest assured, we're just getting started for this year.

It was target practice tonight for Cuban phenom Yuriorkis Gamboa, as the WBA featherweight titlist landed 53 of 107 punches, knocking down Roger Mtagwa three times in two rounds before referee Steve Smoger called a merciful end to the fight.

Gamboa (17-0, 15 KO) was a tornado of devastating offense, looking arguably the best he ever has in his young, outstanding career. There has been talk of him fighting Juan Manuel Lopez should Lopez win later tonight, and that now looks even more like a must-see fight.

Mtagwa (26-14-2, 18 KO) loses no respect. He only lost this way because he's an ultra brave, tough fighter, and in trying to land -- which he could not -- Gamboa ripped him apart. It wasn't even close.

In many ways, it's exactly what I expected. Gamboa is just a better matchup for Mtagwa than was Lopez. I did not expect it so quickly, but it was clear very quickly that Mtagwa simply was not in Gamboa's league, and that the matchup was all wrong for him. Mtagwa couldn't land anything and was hit with everything.

We have continuing live coverage one post down, including the upcoming Luevano-Lopez main event.

Tonight's outstanding Boxing After Dark double-header begins at 9:45 ET on HBO, and Bad Left Hook will be here with live, round-by-round coverage, scoring and analysis of the fights, and immediate post-fight analysis for both bouts. Join us for the first major card of 2010!

Luevano-Lopez Preview | Gamboa-Mtagwa Preview

STEVEN LUEVANO		JUAN MANUEL LOPEZ
	Main Event

YURIORKIS GAMBOA		ROGERS MTAGWA
	Co- Feature

The weights are in from New York City, and everything is good to go for tomorrow night's HBO Boxing After Dark double-header.

WBO featherweight titlist Steven Luevano came in right on the 126-pound limit, with challenger Juan Manuel Lopez at 125 1/2. In the other featherweight title fight of the evening, titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa was at 126, with challenger Rogers Mtagwa down at 122 1/2. We'll see if that makes any difference tomorrow. Did Mtagwa overtrain?

In an off-TV middleweight clash, John Duddy (160 1/2) meets Juan Astorga (155 1/2). You might assume that since Astorga is a professional opponent, Duddy will get a W, but remember that it's John Duddy, who has deserved some Ls against guys no better than Astorga, and took an L against Billy Lyell last year. I mean Duddy should win, but you never know with him.

Tomorrow night's show starts at 9:45 ET on HBO, and we'll be here with live, round-by-round coverage, scoring and analysis, as always.

Related: BLH's preview of Steven Luevano v. Juan Manuel Lopez

While there was plenty to say about Luevano-Lopez, I have to be honest. The featherweight title fight on Saturday between Yuriorkis Gamboa and Rogers Mtagwa seems pretty cut and dry to me.

Of the few complaints about Gamboa, these are the most usual:

• He's wild
• He fights cocky
• He has a poor chin (this one is just nonsense)
• He has bad balance (this is what the chin issue really is)

They're fair complaints, I suppose, but they also make him a terrific foil for Mtagwa.

I like Rogers Mtagwa. Two years in a row now, he's been in Fight of the Year contenders that came out of nowhere. In 2008, he had an unbelievably gritty war with Tomas Villa that was the best fight of that year according to many hardcore fans, and just last year, he fought Juan Manuel Lopez tooth-and-nail in another instant classic, nearly dethroning the young titlist at 122 pounds.

Mtagwa gets by because he's tougher than leather. You have to ignore his record (26-13-2, 18 KO) and focus on the fact that the guy can really fight. He still doesn't make a living from boxing, working as a roofer still in Philadelphia, as Kevin Iole talked about the other day.

He's an easy guy to root for. He's a late-bloomer who at 30 and after years of being booked as an opponent has come into his own through hard work and the fact that he's seemed to learn from his fights. Instead of being a guy that accepted his role, he kept trying to get better. And now, he is better.

But Gamboa has phenom talent. His speed is blinding, his power has been devastating thus far, and he does everything Mtagwa does. I bet he'll be able to do it first in this fight.

The only worry for Gamboa is a big one though. Mtagwa, at 5'5", has a huge 72" reach. Gamboa is a half-inch taller than Rogers, but will be giving up seven inches of reach in this fight. Mtagwa is solid fighting inside and doesn't exactly use his long arms in a conventional way, but he can swing big from further away. And with Gamboa having cowboy tendencies, there's always that chance he gets caught, and Mtagwa has plenty enough power to make a difference, too.

I think this will be a tremendously entertaining fight no matter how long it lasts. If it lasts two minutes, it's going to be two minutes of fury. If it lasts about six or seven rounds, as I expect, it's going to be a whirlwind of action. Unlike Luevano-Lopez, this fight doesn't have much stinker potential. Gamboa TKO-7

Saturday night's big HBO Boxing After Dark double-header is being treated by a lot of people as an exciting card, sure, but two foregone conclusions. Top Rank -- who promote the fighters on the show -- are even treating it as such. Through every minor step of hype, they've essentially ignored Steven Luevano and Rogers Mtagwa, focusing instead on unbeaten young stars Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa.

We'll talk a bit more about Gamboa-Mtagwa in the next few days. For right now, let's focus on Luevano.

You know, WBO featherweight titlist Steven Luevano.

Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KO) isn't the sort of fighter that makes your head turn. He's not flashy, not that powerful, not all that fast. Like a lot of good fighters, he doesn't make many mistakes, and he has a way of keeping himself from getting out of his comfort zone. Call it ring generalship if you want.

Whatever you call it, Luevano is a good fighter. Good enough that if JuanMa Lopez is looking past him the way the advertising is, he could be in some real trouble.

Lopez's last fight in October was against Mtagwa, and the brawler gave him all he could handle, and nearly more than he could handle. Lopez's "0" teetered on the brink in that fight, but he made it out. Now moving up in weight from 122 pounds, he goes right in against a guy who is universally considered top five -- if not top two or three -- in the world. Bad Left Hook has Luevano ranked No. 2 at 126 pounds, with The Ring and ESPN sharing that opinion. In all three sets of rankings, he's behind just Chris John.

This is not saying that Luevano is Rogers Mtagwa. Really, the two of them could not be much further apart. Luevano is a southpaw, Mtagwa fights orthodox. Luevano is a tight, very controlled boxer. Mtagwa is a wild brawler with no fear.

Lopez has fought southpaws before, and he's (obviously) beaten them all. And even though he struggled with Mtagwa, it's no worse than how Luevano did in his last fight in August against Bernabe Concepcion, one of the worst fights of 2009.

Really, I know why Top Rank is hyping this. They've been talking about Lopez-Gamboa since they signed Gamboa, and if both win Saturday, that fight appears all but delivered for this summer, and it's the most exciting fight between two young, top fighters there's been in a long time.

But Luevano deserves to be credited for being a good fighter. So I wanted to do that.

And now...

Lopez is too fast, too strong, too dynamic, and too good for Luevano. This isn't Antonio Davis and Terdsak Jandaeng. This isn't Billy Dib. This isn't Mario Santiago, a solid fighter who drew Luevano in 2008. This is one of the most exciting and promising young fighters in the sport today.

If the world were fair, Luevano would have himself on the fight poster and have his name listed first -- he is the titlist after all. But the world isn't fair, Luevano isn't exciting, and chances are, he's just not good enough for Lopez.

But I don't think JuanMa is going to stop Luevano unless it's accumulation and the referee jumps in. Give me Lopez by wide decision on Saturday night.

Top Rank's Facebook has another interesting tidbit tonight, this time about a possible 2010 fight between junior middleweight titleholder Yuri Foreman and former welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto:

This has come up before in the last month or so in discussion of Cotto's intentions for 2010. Cotto says 2010 will be his last year as an active fighter, which may or may not actually happen (and probably not), and as he's basically fought everyone he's going to fight at 147 (Mosley, Pacquiao, Clottey), a move to 154 and a crack at Foreman's title is something he's said he'll definitely consider. It'd be a good MSG fight with Cotto's Puerto Rican following there, and with Foreman bringing in plenty of Jewish fans, too. They could really do a good house, especially if paired up in June with the possible Lopez-Gamboa fight.

I do think it's a really rough matchup for Miguel. Cotto isn't a big welterweight by any means, and Foreman is a sizable junior middleweight with plenty of skill, and he's a lot fresher than Cotto is. Pacquiao and his team allegedly turned down Foreman because of the height and size differential, but Miguel is only about an inch taller than Pacquiao. Foreman would still have a good advantage against Cotto, and I think I'd pick Yuri to get a decision if I were making a very, very early pick right now (which I am, sort of).

Bob Arum told Primera Hora (link in Spanish) that although previous talks had the January 23 HBO card featuring Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa based in Lopez's native Puerto Rico, the card is now headed to Madison Square Garden in New York City. He doesn't indicate whether it will be at the main arena or the WaMu Theater, where the October 10 Lopez/Gamboa PPV card was held.

A quick look at the New York Knicks schedule tells me the Knicks are off that night, but do play at 1pm the following afternoon at MSG. There's nothing at all scheduled on January 23 at MSG or the other venues connected to the arena, in fact. Still, I'd expect WaMu first.

It also looks like the card is pretty much set with Lopez (27-0, 24 KO) moving up to 126 pounds to take on WBO titlist Steven Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KO). Gamboa (16-0, 14 KO) is slated to face the man who gave Lopez his Fight of the Year candidate test in October, Rogers Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18 KO).

Should Gamboa demolish Mtagwa within the first five rounds and Lopez win against Luevano, it probably sets up a summer showdown between the two young KO artists. I also expect we'll be inundated with, "Look how easily Gamboa beat Mtagwa, and how much trouble Lopez had! That means Gamboa will destroy Lopez!"

I don't really see it that way. I'll say right now I already figure Gamboa will get Mtagwa out of there within five or six rounds. He's much better in a back-and-forth firefight than is Lopez, and Mtagwa's wildness will be countered by Gamboa's own free-swinging ways. It's what Gamboa is really great at, letting his hands go, throwing from all over, and showing off his incredible handspeed. As good as Lopez is, he's a bit more straightforward than that, and not as fast as Gamboa. I think the style matchup against Lopez helped Mtagwa. I think the style matchup against Gamboa puts Mtagwa in an unwinnable fight. Even if he manages to knock Gamboa down, he won't be the first to do that, and I don't think he's got the one-shot pop to knock him out.

But I also don't want to overlook Luevano against Lopez. Luevano's methodical, well-disciplined style could give Lopez fits if JuanMa is out there trying to be flashy and impressive after a win over Mtagwa that raised some questions about him for the first time.

It looks like you can forget about a Juan Manuel Lopez-Celestino Caballero fight for 122-pound supremacy on January 23, as all signs now point to Lopez moving up in weight to challenge featherweight titlist Steven Luevano on the January 23 edition of HBO Boxing After Dark from Puerto Rico.

Recent Top Rank press material listed that as the January 23 main event, with a Yuriorkis Gamboa-Bernabe Concepcion bout as the co-feature, and now Lopez's co-promoter, Ivan Rivera of Puerto Rico Best Boxing, says that Luevano-Lopez is the plan (link in Spanish).

From El Nuevo Dia:

"Everything indicates that it will be Steve Luevano, first because he's also with Top Rank, and it's a much better deal; and second because [Lopez] has talked of going up in weight after his fight with Mtagwa. For a long while, Juanma has had trouble making 122."

I can't say as though it's surprising. This is another instance where Arum and Top Rank don't have to seriously co-promote with anyone, and if Lopez wins, he just beat a good titlist in another division. If Luevano pulls the upset, at least they've got the guy that mucked up some of their plans, and can try to do something with him.

For anyone that thinks Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KO) will be easy for Lopez, I'll throw in a differing opinion. The southpaw may not have much power, but he doesn't make many mistakes, and he's a completely different challenge from Rogers Mtagwa.

That said, there's a decent enough reason to consider Juanma a heavy favorite. He's better at pretty much everything, and if he's able to handle a fellow southpaw, he should do fine. Luevano isn't going to get Lopez to go all cowboy the way Mtagwa did, and at the end of the day fighting a dumb, fan-friendly war with Mtagwa is really the only reason Juanma got into trouble this past Saturday. Luevano's skills are pretty simple, he's not tricky, and he can't win a firefight with Lopez.

The undercard bout is perhaps more interesting to some, with 21-year old Filipino Concepcion (27-3-1, 15 KO) challenging Gamboa (16-0, 14 KO), but frankly I see Gamboa blowing Concepcion out of the water in that one. Concepcion isn't a bad fighter, but he's no phenom. His last was a seven-round DQ loss in an utter stinker against Luevano on August 15. The best thing I can say about this card -- which I like -- is that it almost promises to help us totally avoid Luevano-Concepcion II, which had been discussed.

Actually, Concepcion seems like a guy that might hit his peak and his true career stride with 8-10 losses in five or six years. He's still extremely young, but Gamboa will almost surely be loss number four in January.