Acosta vs Lopez results: Angel Acosta knocks out Ganigan Lopez in eighth round

Puerto Rico’s Angel Acosta had never won a decision as a pro going into tonight’s WBO 108-pound title defense against Mexico’s Ganigan Lopez, and he kept that run alive with an eighth round knockout to retain his belt.

Acosta (20-1, 20 KO) made a third successful defense of the belt he won in Dec. 2017, winning every round against the veteran Lopez (35-9, 19 KO) before the knockout came.

The 28-year-old Acosta had no real trouble at all against the 37-year-old veteran, a former titleholder himself. Lopez’s southpaw stance and veteran craft delayed the inevitable, if anything. Lopez was hurt early in the fight, and also noticeably hurt in the seventh round.

The official time of the knockout was 1:55 of round eight.

“Ganigan came here very intelligent, he knew how to move and evade puches,” Acosta said through a translator after the fight. Asked if he was looking to unify or perhaps move up in weight, he said, “I want to unify, but I also want to get the big purses,” and called out his fellow titleholders at 108, including Japan’s Ken Shiro.

CompuBox saw Acosta landing 114 of 468 (24%) total punches, including 103 of 299 (34%) power shots. Lopez landed 84 of 443 (19%) total punches, and 62 of 240 (26%) power shots.