Luis Alberto Lopez returned to the ring last night following a dramatic KO upset loss and subsequent brain injury.
Luis Alberto Lopez won the IBF featherweight title by majority decision against Josh Warrington in 2022.
He defended the title against Michael Conlan, Joet Gonzalez – brother of Shakur Stevenson’s ex-girlfriend, and Reiya Abe before facing Angelo Leo last year.
Luis Alberto Lopez defies brain bleed to secure KO win
Leo had just one loss, to Inoue-opponent Stephen Fulton, and boasted a record of 24-1 going into the clash with the 30-2 Lopez, who hadn’t lost since 2019.
Though an impressive record, Lopez was expected by many to come out on top, and fans were left stunned when the Mexican lost his world title after being stopped in the tenth round.
Lopez revealed after the fight that he had sustained a brain bleed during it, so it came as no surprise when fans expressed concern over his latest fight announcement.
Lopez locked horns with 21-7-1 Eduardo Montoya in Mexico yesterday, and defied his injury by securing a first-round stoppage of his opponent.
The comeback marks another tale of resilience in boxing, much like Vinny Pazienza defying a neck break to defeat Roberto Duran, or ‘The Boston Bonecrusher’ fighting despite partial blindness, or Craig Bodzianowski, who fought with one leg.
Luis Alberto Lopez dashed Irishman’s world title aspirations
In 2022, Michael Conlan stopped Karim Guerfi in one round in his second fight since losing in the final seconds to Leigh Wood.
Conlan had his sights set on a world title, and after his blitz of Guerfi was set to challenge Lopez for the IBF title.
Conlan was knocked out in round five, suffering another setback on his road to the title.
His next fight saw him lose again by TKO, this time to Jordan Gill, and it seemed Conlan would never fulfill his dream. Following the loss, Conlan didn’t fight for a year but returned this month with a decision win over 19-5-1 Asad Khan.