Luis Alberto Lopez vs Angelo Leo Preview August 10th, 2024
IBF Featherweight Champion Luis Alberto Lopez of Mexico defends his title for the fourth time as he travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico on Saturday, August 10th to take on former WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Angelo Leo in Leo’s hometown. The 12-rounder can be seen live in America on the full ESPN platform while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports Action and those in Canada can see it on TSN 2. Lopez stopped Reiya Abe in the eighth round in March in his last outing. Before that he beat Joet Gonzalez by unanimous decision last September and stopped Michael Conlan in the fifth round in Belfast, Northern Ireland four months earlier in his first defence. He originally won the title via majority decision over Josh Warrington in England in December, 2022. Leo last fought in April when he beat Eduardo Baez by a 10-round unanimous decision to defend his WBA Continental North American Featherweight Belt.
Lopez vs Leo Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Angelo Leo +350
- Luis Alberto Lopez -500
My Pick
Lopez is 30 years old and carries around a record of 30-2 with 17 Ko’s. He’s boxed 183 rounds since turning pro in 2015 and stands 5-feet-4-inches tall with a wingspan of 66.5 inches. As far as power goes, Lopez isn’t considered a knockout artist but 56.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and has halted five of his last seven opponents with only Josh Warrington and Joet Gonzalez going the distance with him. Lopez also has fine boxing skills and a solid chin.
The first pro defeat he suffered came at the hands of Abraham Montoya by way of a 10-round split decision in 2018 to lose his Mexico Pacific Coast Super Featherweight Title. He then dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Ruben Villa in 2019 for the vacant WBO International Featherweight Crown. Since then he’s won 13 consecutive bouts including victories over Abe, Gonzalez, Conlan, Warrington, Isaac Lowe, Gabriel Flores Jr, and Andy Vences.
Leo, who fights out of Las Vegas, is also 30 years old and climbs into the ring with an impressive mark of 24-1 with 11 Ko’s. He’s not a big hitter but still has respectable power as 45.8 per cent of his victories have been by stoppage. He’s stopped two of his last three opponents but has gone the distance in eight of his last 11 contests. Leo made his pro debut in 2012 after a pretty good amateur career and has boxed 155 rounds since. As a youngster he fought in several national Golden Gloves tournaments. Leo measures 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 69-inch reach for a two-inch height advantage on the champion as well as 2.5-inches in reach.
Leo started his pro career rather slowly with just two of his first 10 opponents having winning records. Since then, he’s beaten the likes of Eduardo Baez, Mike Plania, Nicolas Polanco, Basilio Nieves, Jonathan Aguilar, Glenn Poras, Erik Ruiz and Mark John Yap. He also stopped Cesar Juarez in the 11th round in December, 2019 to capture the vacant WBO NABO Super Bantamweight Crown. Leo was then matched with Tramaine Williams for the vacant WBO Super Bantamweight Title and took it by a unanimous decision.
Leo was supposed to have met Stephen Fulton for the vacant belt after Emanuel Navarette vacated it and moved up in weight to featherweight. However Fulton had to pull out of the August, 2020 fight due to a positive Covid 19 test and was replaced by Williams. Leo then met Fulton in his first defence in January, 2021 and dropped a wide unanimous decision. He’s fought four times since then with a 10-round majority decision over Aaron Alameda, a ninth-round stoppage of Polanco, a first-round stoppage of Plania and the recent win over Baez. His fight against Polanco last November was his first in two-and-a-half years and this will now be his fourth bout in the past nine months.
Prediction……
Lopez has displayed pretty good power recently and both he and Leo have good chins as they’ve never been stopped. It’s debatable who owns the better boxing skills but Leo has a small size advantage, meaning Lopez will need to work his way inside without eating leather. This should be a close, hard-fought battle as both boxers usually let their hands go without hesitation and if they do this should be an exciting contest. However, Lopez’s aggressive and somewhat awkward style will probably be enough to retain the belt though.
Lopez’s recent power and overall aggressiveness should to the trick.
Play: Lopez -500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Angelo Leo betting • Luis Alberto Lopez betting