Joy And Despair Of Boxing On Full Display In Angelo Leo’s KO Win Over Luis Alberto Lopez
Angelo Leo produced one of the knockouts of the year on Saturday when his savage one-punch stoppage of Luis Alberto Lopez saw him become the IBF featherweight world champion.
In a close and action-packed fight that two judges had Leo leading by one round and the third having Lopez ahead by one, the Albuquerque native left nothing to chance. Midway through the 10th round, Leo landed a flush left hook on the counter to turn out Lopez’s lights before he had even 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.”
Referee Ernie Sharif gave the champion the courtesy of a 10-count but there was really no point. As the Mexican slowly recovered his senses and crawled his way to a stool, where his team and the ringside doctors immediately tended to him, Leo raced to all four corners of the ring, climbing the top rope and celebrating wildly in front of his home crowd at the Tingley Coliseum.
For Leo (25-1-0 12 KO), it was his fifth straight win and opens up a world of possibilities where he can leverage his status as a world champion to secure unification and other lucrative bouts.
“I want to fight all the champions,” Leo said. “Whether it be (WBO champion) Rafael Espinoza for a unification bout, (undisputed super-bantamweight champion) Naoya Inoue – whoever it may be.”
The 30-year-old’s other options could be WBC champion Rey Vargas or WBA title holder Nick Ball, while Stephen Fulton and the opportunity to correct the one defeat of his career could also hold appeal.
Whatever Leo chooses to do next, he would have woken up on Sunday morning feeling like the world was in his hands. That is the glory that boxing can provide to the winner.
Lopez, on the other hand, would have felt like the world had caved in on him, and the images of him looking distraught in his changing room surrounded by family showed the opposite side of prizefighting.
Lopez (30-3-0 17 KO) is the perfect example of a confidence fighter. He entered the ring on Saturday feeling invincible following nine straight wins that positioned him as arguably the best 126lbs fighter on the planet.
For most of his bout against Leo, ‘Venado’ carried that same invincibility; he may have taken a fair few shots from the challenger, but he never looked particularly troubled by his power. Yet, that is the unforgiving nature of boxing where one punch can change everything. Lopez will not be the first champion to have his belt ripped from him by a savage knockout and he certainly won’t be the last.
Post-fight, ESPN cameras spent a long time in Lopez’s changing room where the Mexican was inconsolable. The shock, disbelief, heartbreak, and destruction of confidence poured out of Lopez in floods of tears. It was difficult viewing.
It’s a challenging road ahead for the 30-year-old from Mexicali, who has bounced back well from his two earlier defeats, although both went to the scorecard and certainly neither ended in such brutal fashion. He has the skills and the power to return to the top of the featherweight division, but it will be interesting to see how he is able to recover mentally and emotionally.
Leo and Lopez are now in different career places – and it was all decided in a split-second knockout.
