.IBF featherweight champ Luis Alberto Lopez defends his waistband against Angelo Leo generally occasion of a Top Position on ESPN card at Tingley Col iseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Sunday (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET). Lopez's final loss remained in May 2019 as well as he has won 14 successive matches due to the fact that, consisting of remarkable success over Josh Warrington in England and also Michael Conlan in Northern Ireland. Yet is he the most effective featherweight in boxing?Vasiliy Lomachenko lately turned down a beneficial match against fellow light in weight champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis as well as while he hasn't introduced his retirement, will our experts find "Hi-Tech" in the ring again?Canelo Alvarez will make his 2nd band look this year, but certainly not versus the boxer fans have clamored for. As Opposed To David Benavidez, Canelo will face Edgar Berlanga, that is actually never ever dealt with at this amount in his short occupation. While Berlanga has fabulous electrical power-- he began his occupation along with 16 consecutive first-round KOs-- may he discover a way to succeed, or even a minimum of go the distance versus Alvarez?Former abundant champ Anthony Joshua will fight for a headline for the very first time in pair of years. Joshua will encounter IBF champion Daniel Dubois in London, as "AJ" is actually preferred to come to be a three-time world champion (-550 every ESPN WAGER). And two-division champ Danny Garcia goes back to the band for merely the second attend nearly 4 years to handle WBA middleweight champ Erislandy Lara. Garcia, who gained belts at 140 and also 147 extra pounds, is actually going up in body weight for the chance to end up being a three-division champ, but can easily he upset a more mature but still highly effective Lara?Mike Coppinger as well as Scar Parkinson address these concerns as well as additional, trying to identify what's actual and also what is actually not.Real or otherwise: Vasiliy Lomachenko will resign without an additional fightNot true ... meanwhile. Lomachenko is actually contemplating retired life, resources told ESPN, aspect of the explanation he decreased a rewarding fight with Gervonta Davis in Nov. There is actually also an option that Lomachenko are going to return in the 1st one-half of 2025 to protect his IBF lightweight title.After all, Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) showed up in a combating mood Sunday in Los Angeles: he and Shakur Stevenson must be actually split at ringside during the course of the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov card. Lomachenko was actually observed telling Stevenson, "Permit's go correct now.If that's any type of evidence, Lomachenko will definitely fight once more. Perhaps even against Davis or even Stevenson, the two most significant battles on the desk for him. But if he certainly never shoelaces up the handwear covers once again, Lomachenko's tradition is protected. He's a three-division champion, a first-ballot Hall of Famer and also an essential of the pound-for-pound listing over the last 10 years.He likewise doesn't require to combat for the money. He is actually made countless bucks in his job and also still resides in Ukraine, where he is among the country's most prominent athletes. Whether or not he battles again, he absolutely won't accomplish this a lot longer. He transforms 37 in February.-- CoppingerReal or not: Danny Garcia beats Erislandy Lara and also becomes a champ in a 3rd divisionNot real. Garcia has actually upset the probabilities before, including an astonishing KO get Amir Khan as well as a prevalent decision triumph over Lucas Matthysse. The very first win lifted him to the higher echelon of the sporting activity as well as the last sealed that status.But the Matthysse match was 11 years ago, however, and also those two trademark Garcia success were at 140 pounds (he also succeeded a label at 147 pounds and also went up to 154 for a July 2022 win over Jose Benavidez Jr.) Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) is actually still seeking a win that matches that, and a dismayed victory over Lara would certainly match the bill.Garcia didn't look like the sharp counterpuncher in the majority-decision triumph over Benavidez, as well as he have not contended due to the fact that. Now, he'll move up an additional weight lesson (though the Lara fight is actually happening at a catchweight in between 155 and 160 pounds) as well as need to contend with band stagnation. The Sept. 14 middleweight headline match versus Lara will be actually Garcia's second given that December 2020, when he was actually routed through Errol Spence Jr.The choose listed here is Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs), that, even at 41, presents incredible electrical power, albeit versus fighters below Garcia's degree. Lara is riding a three-fight KO streak.-- CoppingerReal or not: Canelo Alvarez's match against Edgar Berlanga does not go the distanceCanelo Alvarez, left behind, shields his uncontested very middleweight champion versus Edgar Berlanga on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu using Getty ImagesReal. Alvarez, punching's best superstar, hasn't racked up a KO success because he flattened Caleb Vegetation in a Nov 2021 fight to gain the undisputed tremendously middleweight championship.However, Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has scored a knockdown in his final 3 fights. Against a boxer in Berlanga, who are going to be dealing with on the top amount for the first time, Alvarez should add the 40th KO of his remarkable career.Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) has actually been actually hurt in the band previously, particularly in a step-up fight versus Marcelo Coceres, that fell him in Round 9. And his protection isn't specifically sound. Berlanga has power (he started his occupation with 16 successive KO succeeds in the preliminary), and also if he chooses to trade along with Canelo, Alvarez must take him out.Alvarez promised as much at a set of news conferences today to advertise the battle.-- Coppinger Real or not: Nothing else featherweight champion can easily beat Luis Alberto LopezNot real. Rafael Espinoza looks a genuine threat to Lopez after torturing Sergio Chirinho Sanchez in a four-round succeed in June and defeating Robeisy Ramirez by a bulk choice to win the WBO title in December. Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs) floored Chirinho in three of the 4 shots, while his breakout gain along with Ramirez was just one of the best fights in 2023. Editor's Picks1 RelatedAt 6-foot-1, Espinoza-- the highest globe lightweight champ in history-- will be actually an obstacle for Lopez. Chirinho succeeded to get out of bed coming from an uppercut coming from Espinoza in Round 1, before he was very soon overwhelmed. As an expert, Chirinho had never ever been actually knocked down just before Espinoza swept him aside.Espinoza produced a surprise in pounding two-time Olympic gold medallist Ramirez, and also he outlanded him in the final three spheres. Although he is certainly not as seasoned as Lopez, the volume of hits he has actually thrown in his last pair of matches, together with his height as well as hit advantages, might confirm overwhelming for Lopez.Rey Vargas has actually looked implausible in recent matches, while our experts still need to observe much more coming from Scar Ball just before our experts proclaim him the branch's No. 1. Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) caught the WBA featherweight label along with a split decision sway Raymond Ford in June. That victory followed a questionable draw versus Vargas for the WBC label in March. Yet Espinoza would overlook 5-foot-2 Ball.Vargas was actually unsatisfactory versus Sphere as well as has certainly not succeeded in almost two years, so it is actually challenging to offer an argument for him in his existing form.Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs) is the existing ESPN No. 1 at featherweight after stopping Reiya Abe in 8 rounds in a third defense of the IBF belt in March. Lopez has actually gotten rid of significant problems in title matches, like boxing in a champion's home town as well as receiving slice early (vs. Josh Warrington), and if he succeeds on Saturday against Angelo Leo, he might probably experience his largest difficulty however in a title marriage fight versus Espinoza to crown the greatest boxer in the division.-- ParkinsonReal or otherwise: Anthony Joshua are going to KO Daniel DuboisReal. As good as Dubois' rebirth has actually been just a year after being dropped in Oleksandr Usyk, recent type suggests his first IBF abundant title protection will definitely finish in a KO loss to Joshua.Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) is in leading kind, more so than some other heavyweight. Like Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), Joshua has actually needed to reconstruct his occupation, after suffering back-to-back selection reductions to Usyk in 2021 as well as 2022. Joshua battled cautiously, along with a consensual decision draw Jermaine Franklin in April 2023, yet in his last 3 matches, he finished off Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.Dubois came back coming from Saudi Arabia to Greater london as IBF interim heavyweight champ after he quit Filip Hrgovic in Sphere 8. Usyk after that gave up the IBF waistband, which meant Dubois was actually upgraded to complete champion, and so presents Joshua along with the opportunity to end up being a three-time globe champ at Wembley Arena in London.Joshua will certainly make an effort to exploit what Hrgovic had actually duplicated results with against Dubois. Hrgovic regularly landed right-hand men on Dubois in the very early arounds, and also Joshua has shown in latest battles just how detrimental his right-hand men desire he destroyed Ngannou in Round 2. Joshua landed a right-hand man on the past UFC big-time champion's jaw to take him out cool. Joshua is going to take the option if Dubois produces himself in a similar way offered, as he performed versus Hrgovic. Joshua is a much bigger puncher than Hrgovic and, although Dubois revealed durability to take in type June, he has actually been actually ceased two times (through Joe Joyce in 2020 and also Usyk in 2014) as well as was defeated three times in the preliminary by Kevin Lerena prior to recovering to win in Cycle 3. However it is no stroll in the playground for Joshua, that also requires to value Dubois' electrical power. Dubois made a mess of Hrgovic's face and can potentially carry out a surprise stoppage against Joshua, similar to Andy Ruiz Jr. performed in 2019. Yet Joshua, that concluded as champion from 2016 to 2019 and then from 2019 to 2021, is actually more probable to gain this match by KO.-- Parkinson.