Luis Alberto Lopez Vargas (born 21 August 1993) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight title from 2022 to 2024.

Professional career Early career Lopez made his professional debut against Francisco Javier Pacheco on 6 November 2015. He won the fight by split decision. López Vargas amassed a 16–1 record during the next three years, winning half of those fights by way of stoppage. At the end of this run, Lopez-Vargas was booked to face Ray Ximenez for the vacant WBO International featherweight title on 28 February 2019. He wins his United States debut by technical decision, with scores of 80–72, 78–74 and 77–75. The fight was stopped after eight rounds, due to a cut above Ximenez's left eye, which was caused by an accidental clash of heads. Lopez-Vargas faced Ruben Villa on 10 May 2019, in the main event of the ShoBox: The New Generation, once again fighting for the vacant WBO International featherweight title. Villa handed Lopez-Vargas his second professional loss, winning the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 97–93, 98–92 and 96–94.

After successfully bouncing back against two journeymen opponents, Israel Rojas on 30 August 2019 and Marco Antonio Monteros on 21 September 2019, Lopez was booked to face the undefeated Cristian Baez. Lopez-Vargas won the fight by a fifth-round technical knockout. Lopez next faced Andy Vences on 7 July 2020, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Despite coming into the fight as an underdog, he won the fight by an upset split decision. The judges scored the fight 96–94 in his favor, while the third judge awarded the same scorecard to Vences. In his second fight of 2021, Lopez-Vargas faced the undefeated Gabriel Flores Jr. on 10 September 2021, and once again entered the fight in the role of an underdog. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 100–90 for Lopez-Vargas, while the third judge scored it 98–92 for him.

Following these two upset victories, Lopez was booked to face the undefeated Isaac Lowe in an IBF featherweight title eliminator bout. The fight took place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on 3 December 2021, and was broadcast by ESPN+ and IFL TV. Lopez-Vargas won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout. Lowe was floored with a body strike in the final minute of the seventh round, leaving him unable to beat the ten count. Lopez-Vargas knocked his opponent down twice prior to the stoppage, once in the first and once in the second round. Twenty days later, on 23 December 2021, Lopez-Vargas re-signed with Top Rank.

IBF featherweight champion Lopez vs. Warrington Lopez challenged the reigning IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington on 10 December 2022, at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. He won the fight by majority decision. Judges Mike Fitzgerald and Adam Height scored the fight 115–113 in favor of Lopez, while judge Howard Foster scored it an even 114–114 draw. Lopez complained of what he perceived to be dirty tactics from Warrington in the post-fight interview, stating: "He even hit me on my legs. I don’t think the referee did his job in protecting the fighters tonight". Aside from suffering a cut above his left eye due to a headbutt, it was furthermore revealed after the fight that Lopez had fractured his left thumb during the bout.

Lopez vs. Conlan Lopez was booked to make his maiden title defense against Michael Conlan on 27 May 2023, at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He won the fight by a fifth-round knockout. Lopez floored his opponent with a right uppercut, which prompted Conlan's corner to immediately throw in the towel, as they judged their fighter to have take too much damage.

Lopez vs. Gonzalez Lopez was booked to make a voluntary title defense of his IBF championship against Joet Gonzalez on September 15, 2023, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. He retained the title by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 117–111 and 116–112.

Lopez vs. Abe Lopez was scheduled to make the third defense of his IBF featherweight title against Reiya Abe on March 2, 2024 in Verona, New York. He won the fight by TKO in the eighth round.

Lopez vs. Leo Lopez made the fourth defense of his IBF featherweight title against Angelo Leo at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico on August 10, 2024. Lopez lost the fight and his IBF title by knockout in the tenth round.

Lopez vs. Montoya Lopez made his return against Eduardo Montoya at Palenque del Fex in Mexicali, Mexico on March 29, 2025. He won the fight by KO in the first round.

Lopez vs. Lugo Lopez knocked out Daniel Lugo in the third round at Frontwave Arena, Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, United States, on 11 September 2026.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes36Win33–3Daniel LugoKO3 (10), 11 Sep 202635Win32–3Miguel Arevalo MejiaTKO3 (10), 13 Dec 202534Win31–3Eduardo MontoyaKO1 (10)29 Mar 202533Loss30–3Angelo LeoKO10 (12), 10 Aug 202432Win30–2Reiya AbeTKO8 (12), 2 Mar 202431Win29–2Joet GonzalezUD1215 Sep 202330Win28–2Michael ConlanTKO5 (12), 27 May 202329Win27–2Josh Warrington1210 Dec 2022 28Win26–2Yeison VargasKO2 (8), 20 Aug 2022 27Win25–2Raul ChirinoKO4 (8), 9 Apr 2022 26Win24–2 Isaac LoweKO7 (12), 3 Dec 2021 25Win23–2 Gabriel Flores Jr.UD1010 Sep 202124Win22–2 Mauro LoretoKO1 (8), 18 Mar 202123Win21–2Andy VencesSD107 Jul 202022Win20–2Cristian BaezTKO5 (10), 14 Dec 201921Win19–2Marco Antonio MonterosTKO1 (6), 21 Sep 201920Win18–2Israel RojasTKO1 (8), 30 Aug 201919Loss17–2Ruben VillaUD1010 May 201918Win17–1Ray XimenezTD8 (10)28 Feb 201917Win16–1Yahir PatinoTKO5 (6), 15 Dec 201816Win15–1Gregorio TorresUD69 Nov 201815Win14–1Luis Cueto HernandezTKO2 (6), 29 Sep 201814Win13–1 Marco Antonio Garcia ToledoTKO3 (6), 31 Aug 2018 13Loss12–1Abraham MontoyaSD1024 Mar 2018 12Win12–0Andres Tapia813 Jan 201811Win11–0 Cristian BielmaUD1028 Oct 201710Win10–0Marcelino HernandezKO3 (8), 5 Aug 2017 9Win9–0Alfredo Mejia VargasTKO6 (10)3 Mar 20178Win8–0Zeus ValenzuelaUD81 Jan 20177Win7–0Jose PechTKO1 (4), 19 Nov 20166Win6–0Juan Antonio Rivera5 (6), 22 Oct 20165Win5–0 Hector Cansdales4 (6), 10 Sep 20164Win4–0Jovanni SaldanaUD429 Apr 20163Win3–0Erik Adrian Leyva RamosUD418 Mar 2016 2Win2–0Erick Torres Escobedo429 Jan 20161Win1–0 Francisco Pacheco46 Nov 2015

See also List of world featherweight boxing champions List of Mexican boxing world champions

References

External links

Luis Alberto Lopez - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live