Angelo Leo Has Arrived

Leo won the title in dramatic fashion in front of his hometown crowd, gave them a performance that they could be proud of. Lopez entered his fourth title defense riding a 13-fight winning streak. The 30-year-old was coming off an eighth-round TKO win over Reiya Abe in March. But Leo was not going to be denied and became legendary in his hometown.

“Fighting back in my hometown, I always yearned for this moment,” said Leo, 30. “What better way to do it than with a world title shot and a knockout. That left hook we’ve been practicing all camp.”

Leo was ahead on two of the judge’s scorecards, 86-85, while one judge had Lopez ahead, 86-85, at the time of the stoppage. He becomes a two division champion with the victory.

uncorked a left hook that dropped Lopez flat on his back for the count of 10 at 1:16 of the round to become a two-division champion. The clean left hand sent Lopez crashing to the mat as the back of his head bounced off the canvas in a knockout of the year contender. Lopez (30-3, 17 KOs) was transported to UNM Hospital following the KO loss for observation. Lopez was the top dog at featherweight and was riding a 13 fight winning streak coming into the fight.