Fighters make weight, Leo ready for world title shot

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Fighters took the scales for weigh in day ahead of Saturday night's Top Rank boxing card at Tingley Coliseum. Every fighter on the card made weight, including both fighters in the IBF world featherweight championship bout at 125.6 lbs.

While challenger Angelo Leo (+350) enters the fight as an underdog against Venado Lopez (-475), he remains confident in his ability to claim his second career world title. He feels like fighting in front of his hometown fans gives him a boost.

"I have a lot to prove," said Leo. "I know a lot of people are supporting me, I got a lot of supporters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but I also know that I am an underdog and my main goal is to become a world champion and I'll do anything that I need to do to achieve that goal. He's paid his dues, and now it's my turn to go in there and do what I do."

Matthew "Diamond Boy" Griego is the only other local fighter to compete on the card. He was originally scheduled to fight fellow Albuquerque native Abraham Perez, however due to a health scare that left Perez hospitalized, Griego is now set to fight Gilberto Mendoza. It is the second meeting between the two, as Griego won by unanimous decision in 2022.

"Not the guy I really wanted to fight again, but you know, last minute that's what we could get," Griego said. "I didn't want to let m...