Angelo Miguel Leo (born May 15, 1994) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who held the WBO

junior featherweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

title from 2020 to January 2021. As of June 2021, he is ranked as the world's fifth best active junior featherweight by '' The Ring''.

Professional career

Early career

Leo made his professional debut on November 17, 2012, scoring a four-round

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

(MD) victory over Jesus Xavier Pacheco (Per Ardua) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, with the two judges scoring the bout 40–36 and 39–37 in favour of Leo while the third scored it even at 38–38. After compiling a record of 18–0 (8 KOs) he faced Cesar Juarez for the vacant WBO- NABO

title on December 28, 2019, at the

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Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Leo dropped his opponent to the canvas twice in round six before scoring a third knockdown in the eleventh. Juarez beat referee Jim Korb's count only for Korb to call off the contest in order to save Juarez from further punishment, awarding Leo the WBO regional title via eleventh-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO).

WBO junior featherweight champion

Leo vs. Williams

On July 9, 2020, it was revealed that the reigning WBO junior featherweight champion

Emanuel Navarrete Emanuel Navarrete Martínez (born 17 January 1995) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two-division world champion, having held the WBO junior featherweight title from 2018 to 2020 and the WBO featherweight title since October 2020. As ...

would vacate the title and move up to featherweight. The WBO accordingly ordered their #1 ranked junior featherweight contender Stephan Fulton to face the #2 ranked Leo for the vacant belt. The title bout was scheduled as the main event of an August 1

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broadcast card, which took place at the

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...

Montville, Connecticut Montville is a town in New London County, Connecticut in the United States. The population was 18,387 at the 2020 census. The villages of Chesterfield, Mohegan, Oakdale, and Uncasville are located within the town; the latter two have their own ...

. Fulton withdrew from the bout on July 29, due to a positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

test, and was replaced by

Tramaine Williams Tramaine Dashon Williams (born November 2, 1992) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF-USBA and WBO- NABO junior featherweight titles from 2019 to July 2020. Professional career Williams challenged Angelo Leo for his WBO junior f ...

. Neither fighter was seen as the favorite to win, as most odds-makers either had both boxers at -120 pick'em odds, or had Williams as a slight -125 favorite. Leo won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 117-111, 118-110 and 118-110. Fulton stated his desire to make his first title defense against Fulton, saying in his post-fight interview: "The fans want it, so why not bring it on?".

Leo vs. Fulton

Leo was booked to make his first WBO junior featherweight title defense against Stephan Fulton. The fight was scheduled as the main event of a January 23, 2021, card that took place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Connecticut, and was broadcast by

. The pair was originally scheduled to face each other for the vacant title on August 1, 2020, before Fulton withdrew due to

. Leo entered his first title defense as a +135 underdog, while Fulton was seen as a -160 favorite. Fulton won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118-110, 119-111 and 119-111. Fulton landed 364 to Leo's 262 total punches, and outlanded Leo 320 to 238 in power punches.

Continued super bantamweight career

Leo faced the one-time WBC super bantamweight title challenger

Aarón Alameda Aarón Alameda López (born 18 August 1993) is a Mexican professional boxer who challenged for the WBC super bantamweight title in 2020. Early life Born into a family of boxers in Nogales, Sonora, Alameda naturally followed them to the gym and ...

on June 19, 2021, on the undercard of the WBC middleweight title bout between reigning champion

Jermall Charlo Jermall Charlo (; born May 19, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC middleweight title since 2019 and previously the IBF light middleweight title from 2015 to 2017. His ...

and title challenger Juan Macias Montiel. He won the fight by majority decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 96-94 and 98-92 for Leo, while the third judge scored it as an even 95-95 draw.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leo, Angelo Living people 1994 births Boxers from Albuquerque, New Mexico American male boxers Super-bantamweight boxers World Boxing Organization champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions