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Michael Nelson previews Saturday night's featherweight match-up between Juan Manuel Lopez and Steve Luevano.

Check out Bad Left Hook for Fight Night Coverage of Lopez vs Luevano and Gamboa vs Mtagwa.

The questions answered during Juan Manuel Lopez' dominant performance over Gerry Penalosa last April will need to be revisited tonight in Madison Square Garden, against featherweight WBO titlist Steven Luevano. Namely, how will the sometimes one-dimensional Puerto Rican puncher deal with a sharp boxer?

While Lopez did a fine job displaying a multi-faceted attack while steamrolling the smaller Penalosa, there are key differences between Penalosa and Luevano.

For one, the 28 year old Los Angeles, California native will be the first skilled opponent that's noticeably bigger than Lopez. And while Luevano has a KO percentage that resides below 40, he has enough pop to stagger or drop a reckless foe. If Juanma doesn't attack intelligently, he may end up on his pants.

Two, Penalosa spent much of the bout last year on the ropes while Lopez teed off on him, taking apart the older man's guard with thudding body punches and searing uppercuts. Luevano will use his feet far more than Gerry did. Ideally, he'll be looking to set up traps while circling away from Lopez' vaunted right hook.

Moreover, while Lopez looked like a juggernaut coming into the Penalosa fight - scoring first round knockouts in his three prior bouts - chinks in the armor were exposed when Rogers Mtagwa took him to the brink of defeat last October. The Tanzanian slugger rocked him several times with wide punches in a fight of the year candidate. How will the 26 year old fare if he walks into short, precise counter-punches thrown from a bigger man?

If he's able to take them with a grin then Luevano's probably in for a long night. As evidence by Lopez' 24 KO victims, that right hook is unrelenting.

Steven, for his part, has a dentable chin but has shown to be a tough character to put away. He was hurt a number of times during his violent clash with another southpaw from Puerto Rico, Mario Santiago. But he proved his moxie by coming back to stagger his determined opponent whenever it looked like the fight was slipping away. That type of heart will be needed in droves against the explosive power of Lopez.

To go along with testicular fortitude, expect a sound game plan to exploit Juanma's technical deficiencies. His tendencies to pull straight back, become off-balanced while lunging forward, and leave his chin hanging in the air during exchanges all point to opportunities for Luevano to land his signature left hand. Lopez also uses the same jab-left hand-right hook combination for long stretches of a bout, making him predictable and easy to time by a world class operator.

While Luevano's fights can be boring against slow-footed adversaries, he's not exceedingly difficult to hit and has a strong will to win. Lopez' search for answers left by his near-loss three months ago will prevent this from being dull. HBO's 2010 season should be ushered in with style tonight.

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