Leo’s title defense now scheduled for March; 2 big MMA cards this weekend

Albuquerque native Angelo Leo’s second defense of his IBF featherweight title has been moved back to March 28 from the originally scheduled Feb. 21, Santa Fe boxing promoter Pat Holmes said on Friday.

Everything else, Holmes said, remains the same: the site (Tingley Coliseum, pending a signed contract); the main event (Leo vs. South African challenger Lerato Diamini) and an undercard featuring Albuquerque fighters Matthew Griego-Ortega, Fidel Maldonado Jr. and others.

Holmes said the change is being made at the behest of Garry Jonas, whose Florida-based firm (ProBoxTV) is a participant in the promotion. A major world title fight between Ryan Garcia and Mario Barrios, scheduled for Feb. 21, was announced on Thursday (no location confirmed). Because ProBoxTV is planning to stream the Leo- Diamini card, Holmes said, another date was deemed preferable.

Holmes said Jonas told him streaming of the Leo-Diamini card would be blacked out in the Albuquerque area.

Leo (26-1, 12 knockouts, who lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nev., won the IBF title with a spectacular, 10th-round KO of Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez at Tingley on Aug. 10, 2024.

He made a successful defense on May 24, defeating Tomoki Kameda by majority decision in the challenger’s hometown of Osaka, Japan.

BACK-T0-BACK: It wouldn’t seem ideal, from a consumer’s point of view, to have MMA promotions on successive nights at venues in the same metropolitan area.

Apparently, no harm, no foul.

Jonathan Judy, matchmaker for Saturday’s FightWorld card at Revel ABQ, said he anticipates a sellout — sales unaffected, it appears, by competition from Sunday’s APFC card at Isleta Resort & Casino.

A visit to the APFC ticket site also reflects a sellout or near-sellout.

Judy, with his promotional partners Tom Vaughn and Arlene Sanchez Vaughn, have been staging FightWorld cards in Albuquerque since 2021 — usually two per year. They’ve established a reliable fan base.

“We’re sold out every time (at Revel), Judy said Friday morning in a phone interview. “We’ll be fine.”

Later, he added on social media, “We’re actually ahead of our normal pace.”

Judy’s main event matches Albuquerque middleweight James Romero (3-1) against Troy Green (8-5) of Charlotte, N.C.

Romero trains with Judy and the Vaughns at FIT-NHB.

The co-main event matches Alamogordo’s Richard Jennings (4-3) against Mexico’s Alejandro Quero (4-5).

A total of 14 bouts are scheduled, Judy said, most if not all involving at least one New Mexico fighter.

Sunday’s APFC card at Isleta has a strong local presence as well. Former UFC fighter Anthony Pettis, who heads the organization, often trained in Albuquerque at Jackson-Wink.

One big one: Olympic wrestling gold medalist Gable Steveson, who’s established a presence at Jackson-Wink and has trained with former UFC champion and Albuquerque resident Jon Jones.

Steveson (1-0 MMA) is scheduled to face Florida’s Kevin Hein (2-1) on Sunday in a featured heavyweight bout.

Sunday’s main event matches Rio Rancho welterweight Jalin Fulller (8-4) against Mark Kolker (10-5) of Mobile, Alabama. Santa Fe’s Jess Martinez (6-0) is matched against James Pleasant (6-1) in a featherweight co-main event.

Jackson-Wink middleweight Dahlen Wilson (9-5) is scheduled to face Atlanta’s Reese Watkins (5-2).

The preliminary card is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. The main card, to be streamed on UFC Fight Pass, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.