COMBAT SPORTS
Leo retains title after challenger badly misses weight
Meanwhile, flyweight title shot eludes Albuquerque's Abraham Perez
Yes, Albuquerque native Angelo Leo is still the International Boxing Federation featherweight champion. But Leo鈥檚 retention of the title came about on Friday, not Saturday, and in a most peculiar and unsatisfying way.
Challenger Ra鈥檈ese Aleem鈥檚 failure to make the 126-pound featherweight limit at Friday鈥檚 weigh-in has led to the cancellation of Leo鈥檚 Saturday IBF title defense in Atlanta.
Leo, who had the option of fighting Aleem with no title at stake, opted not to do so. As reported by , Leo, having weighed in successfully at 125 pounds, is still entitled to his contracted pay, reported to be $147,000.
Aleem, who had called Saturday鈥檚 fight the greatest opportunity of his career, weighed in at 128.8 pounds. Two hours later, given a second chance, he still weighed 128 pounds. The fight was cancelled at that point.
An attempt by the Journal to reach Leo for comment was unsuccessful. But Albuquerque鈥檚 Luis Chavez, Leo鈥檚 longtime co-trainer, said by phone from Atlanta that the champion was 鈥渧ery upset. 鈥� We trained so hard for nothing.鈥�
Leo, Chavez said, 鈥淟ooked terrific (in training), and then this happened.鈥�
Chavez said Leo had no wish to fight a non-title bout against an overweight opponent.
What鈥檚 next for Leo (26-1, 12 knockouts) is anyone鈥檚 guess. He last fought on May 24, 2025, when he successfully defended his title with a victory over Tomoki Kameda in Osaka, Japan. Leo had won the title via a victory by 10th-round knockout of then-champion Luis Alberto Lopez at Albuquerque鈥檚 Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 10, 2024.
Before the IBF ordered a mandatory title defense for Leo against Aleem, the organization鈥檚 No. 1 challenger, a group including Santa Fe promoter Pat Holmes and international promoter Sampson Lewkowicz had been working on a possible title defense for Leo in Albuquerque against South Africa鈥檚 Lerato Diamini.
Chavez said he鈥檇 been told a fight in Albuquerque is once again a possibility.
Could Leo-Aleem be rescheduled? Perhaps, but trust that Aleem would make weight given a second chance would be low at best. Missing weight for a world title fight by 2 pounds is viewed within the sport as close to unforgivable.
If the IBF were to remove Aleem as the mandatory challenger, elevate No. 2 challenger Omar Trinidad (20-0-2, 14 KOs) of Los Angeles and again order a mandatory defense, there鈥檇 be the obstacle of Trinidad鈥檚 scheduled June 28 fight against Jarwin Ancajas in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Could a title-unification fight be arranged for Leo against one the other three featherweight champions? That, as always when rival sanctioning bodies are involved, is complicated.
Bruce Carrington, who won the WBC featherweight title in January, already has a July 4 title defense scheduled against Rene Palacios.
Rafael Espinoza, the WBO champion, last fought in November. Brandon Figueroa, the WBA champion, upset then-champion Nick Ball in February. Neither Espinoza nor Figueroa has a fight scheduled.
NO TITLE SHOT FOR PEREZ: Aaron Perez, unbeaten Albuquerque flyweight Abraham Perez鈥檚 father, trainer and promoter, says his son had signed to challenge Anthony Olascuaga for the Los Angeles boxer鈥檚 WBO 112-pound title 鈥� only to have Olascagua鈥檚 camp reject the fight.
鈥淲e signed the contract and made the deal,鈥� Aaron Perez said. 鈥淗owever 鈥� we got a response from the promoter (All-Star Boxing) saying that Anthony鈥檚 team didn鈥檛 want the fight.
鈥淎pparently Abraham was a little too dangerous for them.鈥�
No title defense by Olascagua has been scheduled, as per .
Aaron Perez鈥檚 company, Legacy Promotions, has a card scheduled for July 31. Because of the offer to challenge Olascuaga for a world title, Abraham was not placed on the July 31 card 鈥� headlined by Albuquerqueans Josh Torres and Cristian Cabral in separate fights.
Rather than rearrange the Legacy Card, Aaron Perez said he hoped to secure a fight for his son on another card in July.
Abraham Perez (14-0, 7 KOs) does not appear in the most recent WBO flyweight rankings (though that鈥檚 not always a barrier to getting a title shot). He鈥檚 ranked 12th by the IBF. He last fought on a Legacy Promotions card on April 4, defeating The Philippines鈥� Esneth Domingo (22-5, 14 KOs) by lopsided unanimous decision.
Saturday, it was announced that Olascuaga will defend his title against Mexico鈥檚 Andy Dominguez (13-1, six KOs) July 11 in San Francisco.
