Leo鈥檚 title defense now scheduled for March; 2 big MMA cards this weekend
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 native Angelo Leo speaks at a news conference after his victory over Luis Alberto Lopez at Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 10, 2024.
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sa国际传媒官网网页入口 native Angelo Leo鈥檚 second defense of his IBF featherweight title has been moved back to March 28 from the originally scheduled Feb. 21, Santa Fe boxing promoter Pat Holmes said on Friday.
Everything else, Holmes said, remains the same: the site (Tingley Coliseum, pending a signed contract); the main event (Leo vs. South African challenger Lerato Diamini) and an undercard featuring sa国际传媒官网网页入口 fighters Matthew Griego-Ortega, Fidel Maldonado Jr. and others.
Holmes said the change is being made at the behest of Garry Jonas, whose Florida-based firm (ProBoxTV) is a participant in the promotion. A major world title fight between Ryan Garcia and Mario Barrios, scheduled for Feb. 21, was announced on Thursday (no location confirmed). Because ProBoxTV is planning to stream the Leo- Diamini card, Holmes said, another date was deemed preferable.
Holmes said Jonas told him streaming of the Leo-Diamini card would be blacked out in the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 area.
Leo (26-1, 12 knockouts, who lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nev., won the IBF title with a spectacular, 10th-round KO of Mexico鈥檚 Luis Alberto Lopez at Tingley on Aug. 10, 2024.
He made a successful defense on May 24, defeating Tomoki Kameda by majority decision in the challenger鈥檚 hometown of Osaka, Japan.
BACK-T0-BACK: It wouldn鈥檛 seem ideal, from a consumer鈥檚 point of view, to have MMA promotions on successive nights at venues in the same metropolitan area.
Apparently, no harm, no foul.
Jonathan Judy, matchmaker for Saturday鈥檚 FightWorld card at Revel ABQ, said he anticipates a sellout 鈥� sales unaffected, it appears, by competition from Sunday鈥檚 APFC card at Isleta Resort & Casino.
A visit to the APFC ticket site also reflects a sellout or near-sellout.
Judy, with his promotional partners Tom Vaughn and Arlene Sanchez Vaughn, have been staging FightWorld cards in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 since 2021 鈥� usually two per year. They鈥檝e established a reliable fan base.
鈥淲e鈥檙e sold out every time (at Revel), Judy said Friday morning in a phone interview. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be fine.鈥�
Later, he added on social media, 鈥淲e鈥檙e actually ahead of our normal pace.鈥�
Judy鈥檚 main event matches sa国际传媒官网网页入口 middleweight James Romero (3-1) against Troy Green (8-5) of Charlotte, N.C.
Romero trains with Judy and the Vaughns at FIT-NHB.
The co-main event matches Alamogordo鈥檚 Richard Jennings (4-3) against Mexico鈥檚 Alejandro Quero (4-5).
A total of 14 bouts are scheduled, Judy said, most if not all involving at least one New Mexico fighter.
Sunday鈥檚 APFC card at Isleta has a strong local presence as well. Former UFC fighter Anthony Pettis, who heads the organization, often trained in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 at Jackson-Wink.
One big one: Olympic wrestling gold medalist Gable Steveson, who鈥檚 established a presence at Jackson-Wink and has trained with former UFC champion and sa国际传媒官网网页入口 resident Jon Jones.
Steveson (1-0 MMA) is scheduled to face Florida鈥檚 Kevin Hein (2-1) on Sunday in a featured heavyweight bout.
Sunday鈥檚 main event matches Rio Rancho welterweight Jalin Fulller (8-4) against Mark Kolker (10-5) of Mobile, Alabama. Santa Fe鈥檚 Jess Martinez (6-0) is matched against James Pleasant (6-1) in a featherweight co-main event.
Jackson-Wink middleweight Dahlen Wilson (9-5) is scheduled to face Atlanta鈥檚 Reese Watkins (5-2).
The preliminary card is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. The main card, to be streamed on UFC Fight Pass, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
