Notebook: 'Venado' hits road yet again for defense, this time vs. Leo
140 contender Sims back in action; Ayala wins IBF flyweight title; Matchroom sets Smith-Fernandez undercard; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Luis Alberto Lopez is a road warrior. Have gloves will travel.
For the third time in five world title bouts, “Venado” will fight in his opponent’s hometown, this time in his fourth defense against Angelo Leo in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET, prelims on ESPN+ beginning at 6:50 p.m. ET) at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lopez won the 126-pound title via majority decision from Josh Warrington in his hometown of Leeds, England, in December 2022 and for his first defense five months later he found himself facing Michael Conlan in his hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he was a rude visitor in scoring a massive fifth-round knockout victory.
A pair of neutral-site defenses followed in a one-sided decision over Joet Gonzalez in September and an eighth-round knockout of mandatory challenger Reiya Abe in February. But now it’s back to the road against former WBO junior featherweight titlist Leo, who lives in Las Vegas and has not fought in Albuquerque since 2015.
Lopez is used to the road and has embraced it. Even before his title shot, he traveled to London and knocked out England’s Isaac Lowe in the seventh round of a final title eliminator in 2021.
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“I’m used to being taken to different parts of the world — London, Leeds. It doesn’t matter where I go. ‘Venado’ Lopez, the ‘Road Warrior,’ will always do his job,” Lopez said through an interpreter this week.
Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs), 30, of Mexico, has been successful traveling and plans to keep it up.
“I work hard in the gym to do what I have to do,” Lopez said. “If we can end the fight early, we’ll do that. Either way, I’m coming back home as a world champion.
“Angelo Leo is a former world champion. He wants to be a world champion again. So, we expect the best version of him, and it will be a war.”
Lopez knows a victory could push him closer to a unification fight as Top Rank also promotes WBO titlist Rafael Espinoza and former titlist Robeisy Ramirez, who are due to have a rematch this fall. Eventually, Lopez is aiming for even bigger names.
“Making the fourth defense of my title is a great achievement for me. I never imagined it, but here we are,” Lopez said. “And we’re looking forward to big challenges because big fights are coming. Perhaps unifications. Maybe (undisputed junior featherweight champion) Naoya Inoue? Definitely something big.”
Leo (24-1, 11 KOs), 30, outpointed Tramaine Williams for the vacant WBO 122-pound belt in August 2020 and lost it by one-sided decision to Stephen Fulton in his first defense in January 2021. Since then, Leo has won four fights in a row, most recently via 10-round unanimous decision over former title challenger Eduardo Baez on April 10.
Getting a title opportunity and doing it in a homecoming fight is special to him.
“This means the world to me,” Leo said. ‘Fighting back in my hometown is something I’ve always wanted and what better way to do it than with a title shot.”
In the all-Mexican co-feature, junior welterweights Lindolfo Delgado (20-0, 15 KOs), 29, and Bryan Flores (26-0-1, 15 KOs), 28, meet in a 10-rounder.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. interview
We broke out my recent interview with unbeaten junior middleweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. as a stand-alone episode of our podcast as he heads into Saturday’s fight with WBC interim titlist Serheii Bohachuk. Give it a listen, a review, and also subscribe to get an alert when the next episode is available. New shows every Thursday and Sunday night.
Sims back in action
Junior welterweight contender Kenneth Sims Jr. couldn’t be happier to finally be back in action after a 15-month layoff and in his first fight since signing with Golden Boy in May.
“I just want to let the world know that I'm back,” Simms said this week.
He does not appear to be in much danger against late replacement Jonathan Romero on the Serheii Bohachuk-Vergil Ortiz Jr. undercard on Saturday (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET) at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas,
Romero (35-4, 19 KOs), 37, of Colombia, briefly held the IBF junior featherweight title for six month in 2013 and has lost three fights in a row, including two by knockout inside three rounds.
Still, Simms, who split with PBC in late March, is just glad to have a fight at last.
“I'm excited for what the future holds, but right now we got Saturday to take care of,” Sims said. “If you want to see something spectacular, tune in on Saturday. I'm never in a dull fight, but on Saturday, I plan to go in there and dominate and show why I’m the No. 1 contender in the WBA world rankings.”
Sims (20-2-1, 7 KOs), 30, of Chicago, has not fought since May 2023, when in his only fight of that year, he scored his biggest win. It was a hard-fought majority decision over Batyr Akhmedov in a WBA title eliminator that was a ferocious fight of the year contender on Showtime.
Ayala wins flyweight title
Mexico’s Angel Ayala knocked out Dave Apolinario with an unrelenting body attack in the sixth round to win the vacant IBF flyweight on Friday night in the main event of a Zanfer Promotions card that streamed on ESPN+ in the United States from Restaurante Arroyo in Mexico City.
Ayala (18-0, 8 KOs), 24, won the 112-pound belt Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez won from Sunny Edwards in their December WBO/IBF unification fight before vacating to move up in weight.
Ayala worked the body throughout the fast-paced fight and when one of those body shots went below the belt in the fifth round, referee Roberto Ramirez gave him a warning and Apolinario time to recover.
Early in the sixth round, Ayala landed a left and a right to the body and Apolinario (20-1, 14 KOs), 25, a Filipino southpaw, dropped to a knee on a delayed reaction.
He beat the count and mounted a brief rally but he could not deal with Ayala’s intense pressure. Ayala forced him to the ropes and hammered Apolinario with a series of head and body shots, including a digging right to the body that dropped him to all fours and Ramirez counted him out with 47 seconds left. Apolinario stayed down for another minute or two while Ayala celebrated with his team.
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked Saturday’s two significant fights: Serhii Bohachuk’s WBC interim junior middleweight title defense against Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Luis Alberto Lopez’s IBF featherweight title defense versus Angelo Leo. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Smith-Fernandez undercard set
When the Jack Catterall-Regis Prograis junior welterweight fight was postponed from Aug. 24 to Oct. 26 due to a Catterall rib injury, the undercard fights still had to be rescheduled.
This week, Matchroom Boxing announced that the two most notable undercard bouts have been added to the card headlined by Dalton Smith against Jon Fernandez for the vacant European junior welterweight title on Sept. 28 (DAZN) at Utilita Arena in Smith’s hometown of Sheffield, England.
Those two bouts are:
WBO women’s lightweight titlist Rhiannon Dixon (10-0, 1 KO), 29, of England, making her first defense against former two-division titlist Terri Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs), 27, also of England, who is dropping down in weight from welterweight.
Popular British heavyweight up-and-comer Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs), 25, stepping up in opposition against Andrii Rudenko (36-7, 22 KOs), 40, of Ukraine, in a 10-rounder. “Andriy Rudenko will be my toughest test to date,” Fisher said. “Proven to be a warrior at the elite level, he will test my mettle. I’m ready.”
Among other bouts announced for the Smith-Fernandez card, junior featherweight Peter McGrail (9-1, 5 KOs), 28, a 2020 British Olympian, will face countryman Brad Foster (15-3-2, 5 KOs), 26, in a 10-rounder and lightweight prospect Cameron Vuong (5-0, 3 KOs), 22, of England, will square off with countryman Joe Underwood Hughes (8-3, 1 KO), 27, over eight rounds.
Smith (16-0, 12 KOs), 27, who is the reigning British and Commonwealth champion, is coming off his biggest win, a fifth-round knockout of longtime contender and former title challenger Jose Zepeda, who he put away with a body shot on March 23.
Fernandez (26-3, 22 KOs), 28, of Spain, has won three fights in a row since teaming with renowned trainer Ismael Salas in 2023.
Quick hits
Weights from Las Vegas for the Golden Boy card Saturday on DAZN (9 p.m. ET): Serhii Bohachuk 153.8 pounds, Vergil Ortiz Jr. 153.8 (for Bohachuk’s WBC interim junior middleweight title); Charles Conwell 153.8, Khiary Gray 154; Kenneth Sims Jr. TBA, Jair Valtierra TBA; Gabriela Fundora 109.8, Daniela Asenjo 111.2 (for Fundora’s IBF women’s flyweight title); Joel Iriarte 146.4, Miguel Ortiz 143.6; Cecilia Braekhus 154.6, Maricela Cornejo 153 (for vacant WBC women’s interim junior middleweight title); Eric Priest 159, Luka Lozo 160; Johnny Canas 136.9, Joseph Cruz 132; Jordan Fuentes 122.4, James Mulder 127; Figo Ramirez 119.8, Jose Gonzalez 118.6; Jennah Creason 144.6, Kelsey Wickstrum 146.
Weights from Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the Top Rank card Saturday on ESPN (10 p.m. ET): Luis Alberto Lopez 125.6 pounds, Angelo Leo 125.6 (for Lopez’s IBF featherweight title); Lindolfo Delgado 139.9, Bryan Flores 139.9, Matthew Griego 111.9, Gilberto Mendoza 110.7; Vito Mielnicki Jr. 154, Laszlo Toth 153.3; Albert Gonzalez 126.3, Damian Alcala 126.9; Alan Garcia 136.2, Maickol Lopez 136.2; Steven Navarro 116.6, Israel Camacho 115.6; Arnold Khegai 125.8, Belmar Preciado 125.9.
The purse bid for the fight between WBO flyweight titlist Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs), 25, of Los Angeles, and mandatory challenger Jonathan Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KOs), 33, of Puerto Rico, a former junior flyweight titlist, that was scheduled for Friday was canceled. The WBO announced the sides had reached a deal with date and location “coming soon.” All Star Boxing’s Tuto Zabala promotes both fighters and the holdup was he and Gonzalez making a deal, which they finally did. Olascuaga stopped Riku Kano in the third round to win the vacant 112-pound title July 20 in Tokyo. Gonzalez made three junior flyweight defenses before vacating earlier this year to move up in weight.
Queensberry Promotions announced that European lightweight champion Sam Noakes (14-0, 13 KOs), 27, of England, will make his first defense against mandatory challenger Gianluca Ceglia (21-4-1, 4 KOs), 34, of Italy, on Sept. 6 (TNT Sports in the U.K.) at York Hall in London. Noakes won the vacant title by shutout decision of France’s Yvan Mendy, a former European champion, on April 20. “I can’t wait to put on a big performance and add another KO win to my record,” Noakes said. “I have got a huge future in this game, but first and foremost is to show that I am the best lightweight in Europe — bar none.”
Show and tell
Brazilian star Acelino “Popo” Freitas is my second all-time favorite fighter behind the late Hall of Famer Arturo Gatti. I named dearly departed pet cats after both of them (Popo and Thunder). Freitas was charismatic, exciting and for pure one-punch power one of the biggest hitters of the early 2000s. Having covered some of his fights and having also gotten to know him a bit, he is a very nice and humble guy. He was at his peak when he defended his unified junior lightweight world title against Jorge Barrios in Miami in a Showtime main event that was also a major nationalistic rivalry bout pitting Brazil against Argentina, Barrios’ home country.
They put on a mesmerizing battle, during which Freitas badly cut Barrios, who at one point used the referee’s shirt to wipe away the blood pouring from his cuts in an unforgettable moment. Freitas, who was 33-0 going into the fight, got knocked down in the eighth and 11th rounds but he also dropped Barrios in the 11th and 12th rounds, securing the knockout victory at 50 seconds of the final round of a classic battle. It is one of the great fights of the 2000s and one of my personal favorites. When Showtime ended its boxing coverage at the end of 2023, I ranked it as the fifth-best fight in the network’s 37 years of televising fights. The fight took place in Miami on Aug. 9, 2003 — 21 years ago on Friday. Here a gorgeous and scarce glossy site poster and a mint full ticket in my collection.
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Photos: Lopez-Leo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Sims and Bohachuk-Ortiz: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy
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Dan, heard you tell the Popo the cat story for the second time yesterday on the podcast with TJ. Enjoyed hearing it as much as I did the first time I heard it. Even though I knew what was coming, I still laughed like hell. I have retold that story to non-boxing friends and family, and they got a good laugh as well. Great stuff.
I became big boxing fan in early 2000s. Those casamayor/freitas/Corrales scraps bring back fond memories.