Luis Alberto Lopez Impressive Against Reiya Abe

VERONA, March 2 – Luis Alberto Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs) retained his IBF featherweight title with an eighth-round stoppage of Reiya Abe (25-4-1, 10 KOs).

The fight took place just before the Otabek Kholmatov-Raymond Ford main event at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, NY. Top Rank promoted the card that aired entirely on ESPN+ in the United States. With the win, “El Venado” successfully defended his belt for a third time.

Luis Alberto Lopez Dominates Reiya Abe

Stoppage Win for Luis Alberto Lopez

The swinging punches of Lopez gave Abe trouble in the early rounds. By the end of the second, the Japanese fighter’s eye was starting to close. Lopez applied significant pressure on his opponent by walking forward and throwing a higher volume of punches. Abe was able to counter from time to time, but those punches had no effect on the reigning champion.

Read More: 5 Underrated Featherweights to Watch Out for in 2024

The swelling to Abe’s eye caused the ringside physician to repeatedly check the Japanese fighter’s eye between rounds. Lopez’s swinging shots made things very difficult for Abe, who ate hard punches until the end. Despite this, the bout was allowed to continue up until the eighth round.

From the beginning of the eighth round, Lopez started to apply even more pressure. A combination of punches caused referee Mark Nelson to step in and stop proceedings with Abe still standing at the 0:39 mark.

VENADO CLOSED THE SHOW FOR THE FANS 🍿 pic.twitter.com/iJNX0SRq8r

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) March 3, 2024

Post-Fight Comments

“I turned and looked at my family, my baby, my wife and my mom and dad, and that was the key to my motivation. I knew I had to finish the fight.”

“Abe was a warrior. He was able to continue with his eye shut. He continued fighting with a lot of heart. We know that Japanese fighters have a lot of heart. But I also have a lot of hunger to continue being a world champion, and I had to show that.”

Read More: Luis Alberto Lopez Dominates In IBF Defence

“Like I have been saying, it would be great for me to unify. But I would also like to do a fight 130 pounds. If they put me in against the winner of Oscar Valdez and Liam Wilson, that would be stupendous.”

Undercard Results

A 10-round welterweight contest between Brian Norman Jr. (25-0, 19 KOs, 2 NCs) and Janelson Bocachica (17-2-1, 11 KOs, 1 NC) ended in a no-contest after the third. Norman went down in the opening round. Both men were cut during the fight. It was cuts sustained by Bocachica that caused the bout to end.

In a six-round super lightweight fight, Bryce Mills (15-1, 5 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Gerffred Ngayot (6-2, 5 KOs). Scores were 60-54 (x2) and 58-56.

Troy Isley (12-0, 5 KOs) got a seventh-round knockout win over Marcos Hernandez (16-7-2, 3 KOs). Isley sent his opponent to the canvas in the seventh. Although Hernandez got up, referee Nelson waved off the bout. Time of stoppage for this eight-round middleweight clash was 1:30.

Floyd Diaz (11-0, 3 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Edwin Rodriguez (12-8-2, 5 KOs) in an eight-round bantamweight bout. Scores were 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74.

In an eight-round super lightweight clash, Rohan Polanco (12-0, 7 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Tarik Zaina (13-1-1, 8 KOs). Scores were 79-71 (x2) and 78-72. Zaina went to the canvas in rounds seven and eight.

Nico Ali Walsh (9-1, 5 KOs, 1 NC) won a unanimous decision over Charles Stanford (7-6, 4 KOs). Scores for the six-round middleweight fight were 60-54 (x2) and 59-55. (Ali Walsh won a split decision in a fight that took place in Guinea. However, BoxRec has no record of it. As such, Big Fight Weekend is sticking with the BoxRec record).

Opening proceedings was an eight-round heavyweight clash between Brandon Moore (14-0, 8 KOs, 1 NC) and Helaman Olguin (9-7-1, 4 KOs). Moore won via unanimous decision with scores of 80-72 across the board.

Be sure to check out Big Fight Weekend’s recap of the main event between Kholmatov and Ford later on.