Leo dethrones Lopez in KO of the year candidate

Angelo Leo scored a spectacular one-punch knockout of Luis Alberto Lopez in Round 10 to pull off an upset and win the IBF featherweight title Saturday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Albuquerque's Leo (25-1, 12 KOs) 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, a Top Rank spokesperson told ESPN. Leo was a +350 underdog, according to ESPN BET.

"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."

Lopez was ahead 86-85 on one scorecard entering Round 10, while Leo was up by the same score on the other two cards in an action-packed fight. Leo entered the bout unranked by ESPN, while Lopez was No. 1 at 126 pounds.

Mexico's Lopez entered his fourth title defense riding a 13-fight winning stre8ak. The 30-year-old was coming off an eighth-round TKO win over Reiya Abe in March.

Leo landed the cleaner, harder shots throughout the bout as he swarmed the champion. Lopez connected on plenty of clean right uppercuts and loaded up on shots as he boxed with his typical relaxed style with his hands at his sides.

Leo's lone previous defeat was in January 2021, a decision loss to Stephen Fulton in a 122-pound title fight. Leo rebounded with five consecutive victories, most recently an April decision win over Eduardo Baez. Leo outpointed Tramaine Williams in 2020 to win a vacant 122-pound title.