OSAKA, Japan – Angelo Leo has numerous options after successfully defending his IBF featherweight title for the first time, according to his co-promoter Garry Jonas of ProBox TV.
Leo traveled to Osaka to take on Tomoki Kameda in his challenger’s home city, and earned a majority decision there.
The 31 year old did not shine as he did when he won his 126lbs title with a sensational one-punck knockout of Luis Alberto Lopez in August 2024. Kameda was game and Leo had to work to keep his belt. Leo was awarded the decision via a narrow margin, but Jonas believes that his performance may tempt some big names into the ring.
“People are going to see this as an opportunity and they may see this as – the fact that Angelo was expected to dominate Tomoki [Kameda], and I've got to give credit to Tomoki,” Jonas told BoxingScene. “I think he would have been very competitive with anybody in the division. So there's definitely going to be some opportunities. There's a lot of people that want that belt.”
Jonas revealed that the plan is for Leo to make some voluntary defenses of his title, after he successfully dealt with his mandatory challenger in Kameda. Top Rank have options on Leo after he defeated their fighter Lopez for the title. Jonas said that they may not exercise their fights with Leo due to their broadcast deal with ESPN being on the verge of expiring.
“They've been very, very good to us throughout this entire process,” he explained. “Even letting him come to Japan and pursue this opportunity. So can't thank Top Rank enough for what they've done so far. And let's hope they land the TV deal and then they want to bring him there for his options.
“They could let him fight guys that we choose, that we like the opportunity with, or if the money's right, then we can look at [the WBO featherweight champion Rafael] Espinoza, right? And there's probably a few other opportunities there. It's one of those things in boxing; it's not clearly defined what happens next. You kind of roll with the punches, no pun intended, and see where it falls.”
Jonas stated that the ideal destination for Leo’s next contests would be at Top Rank, but that they will look elsewehere if nothing comes to fruition.
“If not, then, it's almost as though he's a free agent,” he said. “We're going to look at opportunities with PBC, look at opportunities with Matchroom, look at opportunities with Queensberry; Nick Ball [the WBA featherweight champion], could be an opportunity there with them, so we'll see. But we've got to let Top Rank play it out first and see what they've got.”