By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
Steven Luevano is an acquired taste. You’re not going to walk past the television set, see him for 20 seconds and instantly adopt him as your favorite fighter.
He’s calm, patient, rational and methodical in the ring, none of which helps make him an especially big name but all of which makes him one of boxing’s more successful champions.
Luevano, whose record stands at 37-1-1 with 15 knockouts, received a diamond ring Thursday from World Boxing Organization president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel as a gift for the five successful defenses he’s made of his featherweight title.
Yet, in boxing parlance, he’ll be the “B” side in his bid for a sixth defense when he meets Juan Manuel Lopez on Saturday in The Theater at Madison Square Garden on an HBO-televised card.
Lopez is everything Luevano is not: powerful, flashy, speedy and charismatic.
But Luevano’s steady-as-you go style has proven invaluable. Since going on the road to knock out hometown favorite Nicky Cook in London in 2007, Luevano has defeated Antonio Davis, Terdsak Jandaeng, Billy Dib and Bernabe Concepcion and fought to a draw with Mario Santiago.
He’s not a particularly hard puncher – Lopez has nine more knockouts in 12 fewer fights – and he’s not the fastest man in the sport. His is a case in which the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.