Luis Alberto “Venado” Lopez will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight title for the first time against Michael Conlan this Saturday, May 27th at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Ireland. A few days before the battle and in hostile territory, The Mexican said that he is not affected by the fact that the public is against him.
In an interview with IFL TV, Venado Lopez noted that the support of a local fighter gives you the energy to get stronger every round. In addition, he assured that the fight would end ahead of schedule, and asked the judges in charge of scoring to be fair.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time, playing on the B side and visiting champions’ houses. For me it doesn’t affect me. I come to do my job. Well prepared, well tuned and I know what I have to do,” he said.
“When they support a local militant, Gives me more energy to get stronger with every round and do not give these rounds to the enemy. I come to finish early. I hope the judges will be more fair,” he said.
Luis Alberto “Venado” Lopez last entered the ring also in December 2022. when he snatched the IBF belt from Josh Warrington. The Mexican champion, who will defend his title for the first time, has 27 wins (15 on the fast track) and 2 losses on his track record.
For his part, Michael Conlan defeated Karim Gerfi via first-round knockout in December 2022 and wants to become the featherweight champion. The Irish boxer has 18 wins (9 by knockout) and one loss.