Angel Acosta continues his incredible run of knocking out nearly every opponent put in front of him with another successful world title defense.
In the co-main event of a DAZN card from Indio, California, Acosta knocked out former world champion Ganigan Lopez in the eighth round to retain his WBO light flyweight title. Acosta now improves to 20-1 as a pro with all 20 of those wins coming by knockout.
The Puerto Rican champion opened things up with a barrage of left hooks to the body in the first few rounds of the fight, some of which hurt Lopez, but not enough to knock him down. Acosta was very mobile in the first few rounds, avoiding any power punches from Lopez and counter punching whenever he could. Lopez started to find some success working the body in the fourth round and got better as the fight wore on.
Acosta still landed the stronger punches in the middle rounds, but there were moments where he was getting outboxed by the 37-year-old Lopez. Acosta's body work may have helped him get the lead on the scorecards, but it was a left hand to the jaw in the eighth round that started the sequence that led to Acosta's win.
About halfway through the round, Acosta landed a left hook upstairs that left Lopez dazed, confused and hanging on for dear life. Acosta landed a series of punches afterwards and sent Lopez to the canvas. Lopez was unable to get back up as the referee finished his 10-count and Acosta got his 20th knockout victory.
With the win, Acosta's win streak now extends to four fights since losing to then-WBO champion Kosei Tanaka in May 2017. Acosta won the title later that year with a 10th round stoppage win over Juan Alejo after Tanaka vacated the title. Acosta has now made three successful title defenses of the title.
