Luis Alberto Lopez Vargas (born 21 August 1993) is a Mexican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He held the IBF

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

title from December 2022 to August 2024.

Professional career

Early career

Lopez made his professional debut against Francisco Javier Pacheco on 6 November 2015. He won the fight by split decision. López Vargas amassed a 16–1 record during the next three years, winning half of those fights by way of stoppage. At the end of this run, Lopez-Vargas was booked to face Ray Ximenez for the vacant

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

International

title on 28 February 2019. He his United States debut by technical decision, with scores of 80–72, 78–74 and 77–75. The fight was stopped after eight rounds, due to a cut above Ximenez's left eye, which was caused by an accidental clash of heads. Lopez-Vargas faced Ruben Villa on 10 May 2019, in the main event of the ShoBox: The New Generation, once again fighting for the vacant WBO International featherweight title. Villa handed Lopez-Vargas his second professional loss, winning the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 97–93, 98–92 and 96–94. After successfully bouncing back against two journeymen opponents, Israel Rojas on 30 August 2019 and Marco Antonio Monteros on 21 September 2019, Lopez was booked to face the undefeated Cristian Baez. Lopez-Vargas won the fight by a fifth-round technical knockout. Lopez next faced Andy Vences on 7 July 2020, at the MGM Grand in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Despite coming into the fight as an underdog, he won the fight by an upset split decision. The judges scored the fight 96–94 in his favor, while the third judge awarded the same scorecard to Vences. In his second fight of 2021, Lopez-Vargas faced the undefeated Gabriel Flores Jr. on 10 September 2021, and once again entered the fight in the role of an underdog. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 100–90 for Lopez-Vargas, while the third judge scored it 98–92 for him. Following these two upset victories, Lopez was booked to face the undefeated

Isaac Lowe Isaac Lowe (born 21 January 1994) is an English professional boxer. He fought for the WBC Silver featherweight title in 2022. Career In his amateur debut, aged 10, Lowe beat future British super bantamweight champion Marc Leach. Lowe's prof ...

in an IBF featherweight title eliminator bout. The fight took place at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure centre in Bethnal Green, London. The building opened in 1929 and it is most famous as an international boxing venue with the first nights o ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

on 3 December 2021, and was broadcast by

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and IFL TV. Lopez-Vargas won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout. Lowe was floored with a body strike in the final minute of the seventh round, leaving him unable to beat the ten count. Lopez-Vargas knocked his opponent down twice prior to the stoppage, once in the first and once in the second round. Twenty days later, on 23 December 2021, Lopez-Vargas re-signed with

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...

IBF featherweight champion

Lopez vs. Warrington

Lopez challenged the reigning IBF

champion

Josh Warrington Josh Warrington (born 14 November 1990) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time featherweight world champion, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title twice between 2018 and 2022. In 2018, a documentary style movi ...

on 10 December 2022, at the First Direct Arena in

Leeds, England Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. He won the fight by majority decision. Judges Mike Fitzgerald and Adam Height scored the fight 115–113 in favor of Lopez, while judge Howard Foster scored it an even 114–114 draw. Lopez complained of what he perceived to be dirty tactics from Warrington in the post-fight interview, stating: "He even hit me on my legs. I don’t think the referee did his job in protecting the fighters tonight". Aside from suffering a cut above his left eye due to a headbutt, it was furthermore revealed after the fight that Lopez had fractured his left thumb during the bout.

Lopez vs. Conlan

Lopez was booked to make his maiden title defense against Michael Conlan on 27 May 2023, at the SSE Arena in

Belfast, Northern Ireland Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He won the fight by a fifth-round knockout. Lopez floored his opponent with a right uppercut, which prompted Conlan's corner to immediately throw in the towel, as they judged their fighter to have take too much damage.

Lopez vs. Gonzalez

Lopez was booked to make a voluntary title defense of his IBF championship against Joet Gonzalez on September 15, 2023, at the

American Bank Center The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The complex consists of an auditorium, convention center and arena. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sp ...

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

. He retained the title by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 117–111 and 116–112.

Lopez vs. Abe

Lopez was scheduled to make the third defense of his IBF featherweight title against Reiya Abe on March 2, 2024 in Verona, New York. He won the fight by TKO in the eighth round.

Lopez vs. Leo

Lopez made the fourth defense of his IBF featherweight title against

Angelo Leo Angelo Miguel Leo (born May 15, 1994) is an American professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF featherweight title since August 2024, and the WBO junior featherweight title from 2020 to 2021. Profe ...

at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico on August 10, 2024. Lopez lost the fight and his IBF title by knockout in the tenth round.

Lopez vs. Montoya

Lopez made his return against Eduardo Montoya at Palenque del Fex in Mexicali, Mexico on March 29th, 2025. He won the fight by KO in the first round.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Luis Alberto Lopez - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Luis Alberto Living people 1993 births Mexican male boxers Boxers from Mexicali World featherweight boxing champions Super-featherweight boxers International Boxing Federation champions 21st-century Mexican sportsmen