Boxing correspondent Josh Herrera talked with rising star, unbeaten Angelo Leo ahead of his April 5th, Showbox main events against Neil Tababao.
Angelo could you tell us a little bit about your journey,, what it’s take to get to this point in your career?
“ It’s been a long journey getting to this point, getting to fight on Showtime on Show Boxing, fight Neil Tababao.I am here now. It’s a got a lot of hard work and dedication. A lot of perseverance, jumping over obstacles, but that’s what it takes.But, I think in every sport you have those kind of obstacles. I’m here now and April 5th, it’s gong to be a great fight, it’s me and Neil Tababao he has seventeen wins, with threes losses, twelve knockouts. I’m coming in prepared to get my best performance and it’s going to be a great night of boxing that’s for sure”.
Your fights are always action packed there’s never a doll moment to see you round by round. We’re starting to see your fame grow nationally how does it feel to be in the main event of showbox?
“It feels good, like I was telling my team it feels good just feel so great not only being on showbox but being the main event. I was telling my team “it’s one thing to be the main event, but to be the main on national television, you can’t get no better than that right there”.
I was out of the gym a couple weeks ago and I was talking with your trainer Steve, he told me when you were out in California that you kept telling Steve hey Steve we used to live right here on this corner and Steve really didn’t catch no idea what you meant and then it dawned on him. Your story is amazing, you really have brought yourself up from nothing and it just and amazing thing to see what you’ve done. How do you feel about where you started and how you feel personally not just about fighting but everything you’ve accomplished?
“Like I was telling Steve, I was showing him where we lived. It was a rough spot we were at in L.A., it was just me and my dad. We were living in the worst possible apartments we could find. They were the worst of the worst. I mean roaches everywhere, bedbugs in every apartment, and we had a lot of negativity around the apartments; I’ll say. We fight through it and like I said we persevered. Little by little I finally started to get fights and when I signed to Mayweather promotions everything went up from there. I’m still on the path to a world title, I’m still on my path to to getting where I want to, but I’ve come such a long way from where I’ve started it feels really good to see that there’s improvements. There’s a lot of positivity going on From boxing. I’m really happy about that .My dad really happy about that. So we’re all really excited for what the future holds for me. what do you future holds for me. The past is the the past we’re going straight to the top from now on”.
It’s just a great father-son duo, it’s been repeated A few times in the history of boxing, but nothing like this, you guys have stuck to each other and it’s just been a success story. I mean just to success. I think everyone back here and everyone across the country is realizing that Angelo Leo is now a tough contender and really is no joke. And you really being that light and shine of the Mayweather promotions team it just says it all for itself.
The event if Friday, April 5, at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas on Showtime’s Shobox. The ShoBox tripleheader is headlined by top 122-pound prospect Angelo Leo (16-0, 8 KOs) squaring off against Filipino Neil Tabanao (17-4, 11 KOs) from the Philippines, in a 10-round bout. In the telecast opener, undefeated Mayweather Promotions 130 lbs. prospect Andres Cortes (10-0, 6 KOs) and once-beaten Jahmal Dyer (9-1, 5 KOs) squaring off in an eight-round affair. Plus, unbeaten super featherweight prospect Xavier Martinez (13-0, 9 Kos) from Sacramento, California, battles John Moralde (21-2, 11 KOs) from the Philippines.
