For Luis Alberto Lopez, giving everything in the ring against Angelo Leo is what he needs to deal with any style of his opponent.
“Venado” Lopez will make the fourth defense of his featherweight title against former titleholder Angelo Leo on Aug. 10 at Tingley Coliseum in Leo’s hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
According to Lopez, he is prepared to do anything in the ring to defeat Leo.
“Like all Mexicans, I do my job in the ring, and I like to throw punches,” Lopez said. “I don’t mind getting hit in order to hit. We work to be able to do all of that in the ring. If we have to move around, we’ll do that. If we have to brawl, we can brawl. If the fight ends early, we can end it early. I do my job. I will prepare for that. And I’m happy that people like my work.”
Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs) captured his belt by vanquishing Josh Warrington in his hometown of Leeds, England, in December 2022. He defended the belt by traveling to Belfast, Ireland, less than six months later to defeat hometown hero Michael Conlan via fifth-round stoppage.
Lopez, from Mexicali, Mexico, then earned a unanimous decision over Joet Gonzalez last September before dispatching mandatory challenger Reiya Abe in eight in March.
“We’ve been training hard as we get ready to finish camp. This has been one of my best training camps, and we will finish strong,” Lopez said.
“We know that Angelo Leo is a good fighter who comes forward throwing lots of punches. He doesn’t stop in there. So I think we’re going to need a lot of stamina, and we’re going to need to throw a lot of punches. We’re going to be smart but also aggressive. It’s going to be a good fight. It will be a good test for both of us. I don’t plan on letting go of my title. It’s going to be a great clash.”
Leo (24-1, 11 KOs) won a junior featherweight title with a unanimous points win over then-unbeaten Tramaine Williams in August 2020. He lost the title against eventual unified champ Stephen Fulton the following January and has gone 4-0 with two knockouts since.
Meanwhile, Lopez is looking forward to unification if he is able to get past Leo.
“Making the fourth defense of my title is a great achievement for me,” he said. “I never imagined it, but here we are. And we’re looking forward to big challenges because big fights are coming. Perhaps unifications. Maybe Naoya Inoue? Definitely something big.”
In the 10-round junior welterweight co-feature, Lindolfo Delgado (20-0, 15 KOs) and Bryan Flores (26-0-1, 15 KOs) will collide in an all-Mexican showdown.
