By: Sean Crose
The ending had the whiff of Mike McCallum’s brilliant single punch knockout victory over Donald Curry back in 1987. In the midst of a close, high level fight, McCallum fired a left hook seemingly out of the blue that sent the popular Curry down and out in front of HBO cameras. This time around it was Angelo Leo who fired the left hook, and it was Luis Lopez who ended up on his back with the referee counting over him while ESPN cameras filmed it all. It was a picture perfect knockout, one which might give Leo a knockout of the year nod, but more importantly earned the now 24-2 Leo the IBF world featherweight title.
Lopez, who fought well until the bout’s final moments, now holds a record of 30-2. Without doubt, however, the night belonged to the new champion. “For four or five months we’ve been practicing it,” Leo said of the tenth round left hook that shook the boxing world after the fight had ended. “I want to fight all the champions.” What made the fight all the sweeter for Leo was the fact that it went down in front of a hometown Albuquerque crowd. “Thanks for all my fans,” said Leo. “I love you.” With a victory like Saturday’s, Leo’s given Albuquerque good reason to love him back.