Leo has opponent, date for title defense in Albuquerque

The gloves are off regarding the date (Feb. 21) for Angelo Leo’s next defense of his IBF featherweight title, the identity of his opponent (South Africa’s Lerato Diamini) and the general location (Albuquerque).

What’s lacking as of Tuesday afternoon was a specific site and an event permit, as issued by the New Mexico Athletic Commission.

Tuesday, veteran boxing writer Lance Pugmire, writing for boxingscene.com, reported that Diamini (21-3, 12 knockouts) has been named Leo’s opponent for the Albuquerque native’s second defense of the world title he won by defeating Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez at Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 10, 2024.

Leo (26-1, 12 KOs) had teased an upcoming bout last week. On Friday, Santa Fe promoter Pat Holmes told the Journal that he, partnering with Albuquerque combat-sports fighter Donald Sanchez, would soon announce details regarding an upcoming Leo title defense in Albuquerque.

On Tuesday, Holmes said in a phone interview that he was in the process of finalizing a contract with a venue and hadn’t felt a need to secure an event permit this far in advance of his event. To be granted an event permit, he’d need a secured venue.

Holmes said he was still waiting to receive a signed contract from Diamini and wasn’t ready to announce the matchup before getting word of Pugmire’s report.

Pugmire quoted Garry Jonas of the Florida-based ProBoxTV.com as saying ProBox would stream the Leo-Diamini fight. ProBox signed Leo to a contract in 2023 and staged three of his fights, all victories, at its home arena in Plant City, Florida.

ProBox also hosted the streaming of Leo’s first title defense, a victory by majority decision over Tomoki Kameda in Osaka, Japan on May 24.

The selection of Diamini as an opponent invites comparisons with Leo’s victory over Kameda, since the South African fought Kameda twice in 2023-24 — first defeating the Japanese boxer by split decision, then losing by the same outcome. Both of those fights were contested in Japan.

Diamini, 31, has won three international titles during his 10-year pro career but never a world title. He lost by unanimous decision to England’s James Dickens in a bid for the IBO world featherweight title — the IBO is not among the sport’s four universally recognized world sanctioning bodies — in 2022.

Top Rank, Inc., which promoted the Leo-Lopez card, is not involved in the Leo-Diamini promotion.