Angelo Leo delivered a knockout performance in every sense of the phrase Saturday night, becoming a two-division titleholder with a 10th-round KO of IBF featherweight belt holder Luis Alberto Lopez at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The victory – coming on a picture-perfect punch, in a potential Knockout of the Year and achieved in front of Leo’s hometown crowd – was nothing short of a storybook scenario.
Leo (25-1, 12 KOs), a former junior featherweight titlist, was a step ahead of Lopez (30-3, 17 KOs) throughout the fight. Although both fighters are 30 years old, Leo appeared sharper from the start, while Lopez struggled to gain any momentum. The end came when Lopez threw a lazy jab that returned to his chest instead of his chin, allowing Leo to capitalize with a left hook that rendered Lopez unconscious before he hit the canvas.
“That left hook, we’ve been practicing all camp, for four or five months,” Leo said. “I’ve been practicing it, not just in the gym, but in my room, in front of the mirror. I just kept throwing that left hook, and it paid off in the 10th round.”
Trained by his father, Miguel Leo, the victorious fighter credited the grueling preparation that led to his triumph. “I’ve got to give a big thanks to my dad,” Angelo Leo said. “He’s the one that helped me through this camp. He was hard on me, but he got me to this point. He made sure my defense was on point because we knew ‘Venado’ was a big puncher and I had to have good defense. So with that, we just practiced my defense and shooting in between the shots, and I was able to catch him.”
Looking ahead, Leo made it clear that he’s targeting bigger challenges after an active year (four fights since last June). Now, as a world titleholder, he is eyeing unification fights or a potential showdown with Naoya Inoue, the current undisputed junior featherweight champion, who is rumored to be moving up to featherweight.
“I want to fight all the champions,” Leo said. “Whether it be Rafael Espinoza for a unification bout, Naoya Inoue – whoever it may be.”
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