Luis Alberto Lopez found himself on the wrong side of what could very easily go down as the Knockout of the Year on Saturday night.
And he lost his title because of it, too.
Angelo Leo absolutely stunned Lopez with a wild one-punch knockout in the 10th round of their bout at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday. Leo, after largely dodging a solid head shot from Lopez, responded perfectly with a clean left hook that landed right in the center of Lopez’s head. That sent the now former IBF featherweight champion falling straight back to the mat out cold and ended the fight immediately.
Just look:
After the KO, Leo told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna that landing that devastating punch was no fluke because he’d put it in extra work to perfect it during his training camp.
“That left hook, we’ve been practicing all camp,” Leo said. “For four or five months, I’ve been practicing it. Not in the gym, but in my room in front of the mirror. I just kept throwing that left hook, and it paid off in, I think it was, the 10th round.”
Leo entered the night on a four-fight win streak and now holds a 25-1 record. He claimed the WBA continental featherweight title with a knockout win over Mike Plania in January, and then defended it with a unanimous decision win over Eduardo Baez in April. As for what’s next for the newly crowned 126-pound champion, he said post-fight that he’s ready to start collecting more belts.
“I want to fight all the champions,” Leo said, “whether it be [WBO champion] Rafael Espinoza for a unification belt, [undisputed super bantamweight champion] Naoya Inoue, whoever it may be.”
Lopez entered Saturday’s bout with a 30-2 career record with 17 KOs. He first claimed the IBF featherweight title in December 2022 with a majority decision win over Josh Warrington. He defended that belt successfully three times, and he had won 13 straight fights dating back to 2019 before his loss.
Though there have been plenty of remarkable knockouts so far this year, and there is plenty of time left for more, Leo’s was about as clean and appeared as effortless as could possibly be. He landed his shot perfectly, and there was nothing Lopez could do to stop it.
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