Luis Alberto Lopez in Pursuit of Unification with Leigh Wood!
IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez (28-2, 16 KOs) is a day removed from his impressive fifth-round knockout over Michael Conlan on May 27 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Now El Venado is targeting a showdown with newly crowned WBA champion Leigh Wood (27-3, 16 KOs).
READY TO UNIFY
Following the win over Conlan, Lopez’s manager, Kiki Magana, spoke with the British news source, Mirror Fighting. Magana was clear that a fight with Wood is at the top of their agenda.
“Please go and tell him that he is next. Of course, let’s make it happen. I’m planning to buy a house in the UK. We’re about to call Eddie Hearn and tell him, if the money’s right, we’ll come to London, and we’ll fight Leigh Wood. It will be a full house!”
Lopez is quickly gaining a reputation as a road warrior. The 29-year-old captured the IBF belt with a majority decision win over Josh Warrington in December 2022 in Leeds, England, Warrington’s hometown. The knockout of Conlan took place in Conlan’s hometown of Belfast.
On the same day that Lopez fought Conlan, Wood regained the WBA title with a unanimous decision victory in a rematch over Mauricio Lara. Following the win over Lara, the promoter of Wood, Eddie Hearn, mentioned that a unification matchup against Lopez is under consideration.
However, the potential fight would likely not happen until sometime in 2024. The newly crowned WBA champion would first prefer to have a homecoming bout against Warrington in Nottingham, England. Should Wood land the fight with Warrington and win, a Lopez – Wood showdown is in play.
There seems to be mutual interest between the two featherweight world champions. The camp of Lopez is definitely ready to make it a reality. For them, the sooner it can happen, the better.
Be the first to comment