Luis Alberto Lopez puts his IBF featherweight belt on the line as a massive favorite against challenger Reiya Abe in a 12-round bout scheduled for Saturday, March 2 in New York. A regional champ in his early days, Lopez made the most of his first title fight scoring a majority decision over Josh Warrington at the end of 2022 to claim the IBF strap. He has successfully defended his title twice since and his handlers are looking at a potential unification bout should the -800 favorite do what he’s expected to.
A veteran of 29 professional fights, Abe will be fighting outside his home country of Japan for the first time when he ventures to New York. The IBF’s No. 1 ranked contender earned a shot at the strap by beating former two-division world champion Kiko Martinez by unanimous decision last April. With 25 wins and a draw on his resume, Abe appears to be a formidable opponent. However, it’s hard to gauge his success having competed at the mid-level ranks on the Japanese circuit. And that’s a big reason why he opened as a +500 boxing betting line underdog.
Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Reiya Abe Betting Odds
Luis Alberto Lopez -800
Reiya Abe +500
10.5 rounds: Over -240, Under +190
The 12-round featherweight title fight between IBF champ Luis Alberto Lopez ( 29-2, 16 KOs ) and challenger Reiya Abe ( 25-3-1, 10 KOs ) will take place on Saturday, March 2, 2024 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY and will air on ESPN.
Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Reiya Abe Fight Preview
The start of Lopez’s career is very similar to what Abe is going through right now. Tearing up the regional circuit and winning numerous accolades along the way, Lopez found it hard to reach the mainstream following a loss to Ruben Villa for the vacant WBO international featherweight title in 2019. Boasting the eye of the tiger, Lopez began his long journey back up the ranks scoring TKO victories over journeymen Israel Rojas and Marco Antonio Monteros.
The trajectory upward went into hyper speed following a TKO of undefeated Christian Baez in December 2019 and a split decision triumph over Andy Vences as a big underdog seven months later. Facing another unbeaten opponent and fighting as an underdog, Lopez scored a dominant UD over Gabriel Flores Jr. becoming a big blip on the radar. Following those two money-making upsets, Lopez was booked to face undefeated Isaac Lowe in an IBF title eliminator. Showing off his graceful moves and thunderous jab, Lopez put his opponent on the canvas three times, the last coming in the seventh round that Lowe couldn’t recover from.
Riding a nine-fight winning streak with seven of them by stoppage, Lopez earned the right to challenge IBF featherweight champ Josh Warrington. In another brilliant display of tactical boxing, Lopez outpointed the champ doing so with what later was revealed to be a fractured thumb on his left hand. Lopez was successful twice defending his title, most recently with a unanimous decision over Joet Gonzalez last September.
All Abe has to do is look at the career path of Lopez for motivation. Boxing fans outside Japan haven’t heard much about him but Abe triumphed in 22 of his first 26 fights with a draw prior to a unanimous decision victory over Hinata Maruta for the Japanese featherweight and vacant WBO Asia-Pacific featherweight titles. That set up a title eliminator bout, which Abe won handily over former two-division champ Kiko Martinez.
Abe hasn’t faced anyone like Lopez in his 29 career bouts, though. Martinez was the most decorated opponent, but he was 37 at the time of the fight and on the downslope of his career having dropped three of his previous seven fights, so it’s hard to believe he can score a big upset.
Bet Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Reiya Abe
The only way Lopez doesn’t win this fight is if he loses his edge. In his most recent title defense against Gonzalez, Lopez didn’t show the same enthusiasm as in previous bouts and appeared to be going through the motions. Still, he won the fight rather convincingly sparking talk of a unification bout. Taking focus off his opponent is one way Abe can sneak out an upset. However, I don’t see that happening with too much on the line for the reigning champ. Betting a round is a good way to move the odds in your favor and since neither fighter has been KO’d in their career it’s best to go big.
Boxing Odds Pick: Luis Alberto Lopez / Decision
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