Saturday evening is supposed to be a coronation for Juan Manuel Lopez, another notch on the Puerto Rican star's belt. At 26-0, with a silky southpaw style and devastating right hook, Lopez possesses all the tools to make Saturday another easy night at the office.

Somebody forgot to give his opponent, Rogers Mtagwa (25-12-2 18 Kos), the memo.

"Most people think I am going to lose," Mtagwa told Fight Hype. "A lot of people don't know me. I am a good fighter, too. It is not an easy fight for him."

Mtagwa's journey to this point has been anything but easy. Nine years ago, he moved from his native Tanzania to Philadelphia. In his first 11 fights on American soil, he went 4-5-2, a record pedestrian enough to push most fighters into permanent boxing purgatory. As the years piled on, Mtagwa would lose some and win others, but his reputation as a Philadelphia tough-guy only grew.

Russell Peltz, Mtagwa's promoter, has had as a ringside view to his fighter's grit and maturation. At the pre-fight press conference, Peltz gave Mtagwa the ultimate compliment.

"He may be from Tanzania, but he is as much of a Philadelphia fighter as anybody," Peltz said.

Wins over Fernando Trejo, Joe Morales and Aldo Valtierra proved the kid could fight. But on November 7, 2008, Mtagwa raised more than a few eyebrows by engaging in a ten-round fight-of-the-year candidate with Tomas Villa. Knocked down and badly hurt in the 9th round, Mtagwa walked unsteadily back to his corner.

"I come back to the corner, and I'm still OK," Mtagwa said. "My trainer {Philadelphia legend and Marvin Hagler conquerer Bobby Watts} said, 'I want to stop this fight.'" "I said, 'don't stop this fight.  Give me one more chance.'  So I dropped him from a right hand, and when somebody goes down, I want to make sure they don't finish the fight."

He would knock down Villa twice more in the tenth round en route to the knockout. Watts saw a little extra something in Mtagwa that night. The kid from the Dodoma region of Tanzania became a true Philly fighter.

"He showed me that he has a lot of will and heart," Watts said. "He comes to fight, and it's just that he has what it takes to win, that drive. He has all of that. I can't see that we will come out with a loss. I am looking at being victorious."

In order to accomplish the impossible, he will have to do something no other Lopez opponent has managed: apply constant pressure. Watts and Mtagwa made no secret of their plans to draw Lopez into a firefight, the type of battle that could unhinge the undefeated and untested star.

"The key is to keep the pressure on, throw right hands and left hooks as much as possible," Watts said. "Don't wait."

Added Mtagwa: "I am going to have to throw four, five and six punches at a time. We are going to give him a hard fight. If he stays {in front of me}, it is going to be a very, very hard fight."

Getting Lopez to stand and trade will be the problem. Team Mtagwa made no secret of their plan to work the body. For the fighter born in Tanzania and bred in the hardscrabble gyms of Philadelphia, the head will fall once the body is softened. Punches will be thrown in bunches from all angles, which Mtagwa believes will be enough to upset Top Rank's next Puerto Rican superstar.

When asked about the slim chance most are giving his pupil of winning, Watts paused for a second.

"He doesn't have any more than Rogers has," Watts said. "He has two hands. When you have two hands and the other guy has two hands, you stand just as much of a chance as the next guy."