By Aaron Klein: World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion Steven Luevano (36-1-1, 15 KOs) successfully defended his title over Australian Billy Dib (21-1, 11 KOs), earning a 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the
Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Luevano, 27, was making his 4th defense of his WBO title that he won in July 2007 with a win over Nicky Cook. The final judges’ scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111. Dib, 23, ranked #10 in the WBO and #11 in the IBF, appeared out of his league for the most part, looking like a crude street taught amateur in contrast to the highly skilled, composed Luevano.

In round one through four, Luevano looked a little uncomfortable with Dib’s style of fighting, in particular with his rushing inside and throwing wild shots as went. With his good hand speed and his unorthodox style, it seemed to throw Luevano off his game for the first four rounds. Though Luevano often caught Dib with big left hands as he would come flying in, he was still getting hit with quite a few punches that were thrown from odd directions. Dib was hard to predict initially, but after a few rounds, Luevano appeared to have him figured out.

Dib had as habit of bouncing on his toes on the outside, circling to his left and looking for an opening. While he was moving, he would throw jabs, but for some strange reason, he would stop punching just when he was about to attack, and rush forward looking to land. On the inside, Dibs often threw quick flurries, leaving himself open for big counter shots from Luevano. The shoeshine stuff was mostly weak punches from Dib, who left himself open every time he’d throw his shots.

After the 4th round, Luevano had Dib totally figured out, and began to patiently stalk him around the ring, waiting for Dib to come at him. Dib fights best when he can get his opponents to chase after him, so that he can get them off balance and land his wild shots. However, Luevano stayed calm, not keeping his defense tight and looking for opportunities to hit Dib as he would come running at him. In round five through twelve, Luevano caught Dib over and over again with left hands as he would come at him. Dib began showing swelling under both eyes by the 6th.

At the end of the 7th round, Dib landed a left hand well after the bell, and received a stern warning from the referee, who let him know he would take away a point the next time he did that. In rounds eight through twelve, Luevano would continue to tag Dib with big shots, hurting him a couple of times and almost knocking him down. By this point, the fight was no longer entertaining as Dib was being totally schooled by Luevano and looked like he didn’t belong in the same ring with him.

Dib, who is often compared to former champion Naseem Hamed, fought erratically for most of the fight, lunging inside without throwing a jab, and often getting nailed on the way in. He bounced constantly, circling the ring, and often running forward trying to land wild left hooks. Dib’s hand speed was quite good, maybe as good as Hamed. However, Dib’s power was nowhere near that of Hamed, and nor was his overall ring ability.

He seemed like a raw copy of the former British champion, one that needed much more work before he can even be considered as a contender. It’s surprising that Dib even got this far, given the fact that he appeared to lose his last fight with Zolani Marali by at least six rounds, yet he was given the decision. However, he remains very popular in Australia, which is probably the main reason why he landed the fight with Luevano.