IBF No. 1 Featherweight Contender Luis Alberto Lopez Signs New Multi-Year Promotional Contract with Top Rank

Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez, the fast-rising featherweight from
Mexicali, Mexico, has signed a new multi-year promotional contract with Top
Rank. The 28-year-old Lopez (24-2, 13 KOs), ranked the IBF No. 1
featherweight contender, broke out from the 126-pound pack in 2021.

He began his campaign on March 18 with a first-round knockout over
countryman Mauro Loreto in Mexicali. His breakthrough performance came on
Sept. 10 in Tucson, Arizona, when he battered then-unbeaten prospect
Gabriel Flores Jr. over 10 rounds en route to a unanimous decision. Less
than three months later, he punched his passport once again and knocked out
the previously unbeaten Isaac Lowe at the historic York Hall in London.

The Lowe triumph — an IBF world title eliminator — made Lopez the mandatory
challenger for Kiko Martinez, the decorated Spaniard who recently knocked
out Kid Galahad to become a two-weight world champion. Lopez hopes to
challenge Martinez in the first half of 2022.

“There are few more entertaining warriors in boxing than Luis Alberto
Lopez, and he earned a new promotional contract and a shot at the title
with a sensational year,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum.

Lopez said, “I am thankful to Bob Arum, Brad Goodman, and everybody at Top
Rank. 2022 is the year I achieve my dream of becoming a world champion.
Kiko Martinez is a great champion, but he is the man standing in my way.
Next year, I will bring that IBF title home to Mexicali.”