In a surprise upset, Fringe contender Angelo Leo (25-1, 12 KOs) knocked out IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto ‘Venado’ Lopez (30-3, 17 KOs) in the tenth round on Saturday night in Leo’s hometown at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lopez was trailing narrowly on two of the scorecards, 85-86, 85-86, and ahead on the other 86-85 when he was caught by a huge left hook from Leo in the tenth round that folded him on the canvas. The time of the stoppage was at 1:16 of round ten.
Venado Lopez fell flat on his back and was too hurt to get back to his feet to resume fighting. If Lopez had gotten back up, Leo would have finished him off because he was too hurt. When Lopez returned to his feet after the contest was halted, he still looked out of it.
Referee Earnie Shariff should have halted the fight right away rather than giving Lopez a count because Lopez was badly hurt and could not get back to his feet after that.
Luis Lopez’s awkward style of throwing leaping punches gave Angelo Leo problems in that fight because he was catching him with those shots throughout.
Leo was still outboxing Lopez but occasionally got caught with enormous punches thrown with massive power. Leo’s chin saved him in the fight because he had to take some big shots to win.
Perhaps fighting in his hometown helped Leo because the fans cheered for him throughout the fight, giving him the energy to fight hard and take the punishment that Lopez was dishing out on him.
It’s unclear if there’s a rematch clause in the contract. This was a voluntary defense for Lopez of his IBF title against #10 Leo. So, that could mean there’s a rematch clause. If so, it’ll be interesting is the second fight is staged in Leo’s hometown again.
Undercard:
Lindolfo Delgado vs. Bryan Flores – Junior Welterweights
- Lindolfo Delgado (21-0, 15 KOs) won by unanimous decision over Bryan Flores (26-1-1, 15 KOs).
- Delgado dropped Flores in the third round.
- Flores was deducted a point in the seventh round for a phantom low blow.
- Scores: 95-93, 96-92 for Delgado, 96-92 for Flores.
- The decision received a mixed reaction from the crowd.
Matthew Griego vs. Gilberto Mendoza – Flyweights
- Unbeaten local flyweight Matthew Griego (14-0, 10 KOs) defeated Gilberto Mendoza (23-18-4, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision in an eight-round rematch.
- Scores: 80-72 across all cards (3x).
- This was a rematch from their June 2022 bout which Griego also won by unanimous decision.
Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs. Laszlo Toth – Junior Middleweights
- Vito Mielnicki Jr. (19-1, 12 KOs) won by disqualification in the second round against Laszlo Toth (32-9-2, 20 KOs) in his Top Rank debut.
- Mielnicki dropped Toth in the second round, leading to Toth’s corner entering the ring and causing Toth to be disqualified.
- As a result of the disqualification, Mielnicki did not get the KO on his record.
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