Angelo Leo continues to accumulate wins en route to another world title opportunity.

Leo stopped Mike Plania in round three on Wednesday night at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

The fight was fought at a slower pace early on. Plania found early success with lead left hooks to the head in the opening round, but Leo was able to successfully mix his attack to the head and body of Plania.

Late in the third round, Leo landed a hard left hook to the body. Plania went down to the canvas, wincing in pain. Referee Michael DeJesus initially ruled the punch landed low, but replays clearly showed the punch landed above Plania’s beltline.

Moments later, the chief inspector assigned by the Florida Boxing Commission reviewed the replay, overturning DeJesus’ ruling and awarding Leo the knockout victory at 2:27.

The victory over Plania took place almost three months after Leo stopped Nicholas Polanco in the ninth round. The win also marked Leo’s debut at 126 pounds and under the ProBox TV banner.

The 29-year-old Leo has won his last three fights since losing the WBO world junior featherweight title belt to Stephen Fulton in January 2021.

Leo, who now lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada, improved to 23-1 with 11 knockouts.

Plania, who is originally from General Santos City in the Philippines and now resides in Miami, Florida, falls to 29-4 (16 KOs). The 26-year-old has split his last six bouts, with the other two defeats coming at the hands of junior featherweight contenders Elijah Pierce on August 4 and Ra’eese Aleem in September 2022.

In the co-feature, fringe super middleweight contender Trevor McCumby of Glendale, Arizona defeated Christopher Pearson by unanimous decision.

Scores were 97-93, 99-91, and 100-90 for McCumby, who improved to 28-0 (21 KOs).

McCumby was on the attack from the opening bell, fighting on the front foot and hoping to get Pearson out early. Pearson was able to weather the early onslaught, even momentarily stunning McCumby twice in round three with right hooks to the head.

Both fighters suffered cuts from an accidental clash of heads late in round four. McCumby suffered the worst between the two, as a cut opened directly above his right eye. Blood did ooze out during the subsequent rounds, but would become a non-factor.

The pace of the fight slowed during the second half of the fight. McCumby continued to walk Pearson down, forcing him to fight off the ropes. Pearson would fight in spurts, finding some success, but not enough to win rounds.

Trevor McCumby (right) connects with an uppercut on Christopher Pearson – Photo courtesy of ProBoxTV

Pearson, who resides in Dayton, Ohio, falls to 17-4-1 (12 KOs).

In a crossroads fight, fringe lightweight contender Antonio Moran of Mexico City improved to 30-6-1 (21 KOs), dropping Romero Duno twice en route to a knockout victory.

Duno initially had difficulty with Moran’s height and reach, but was able to throw and land overhand right hands behind punches to the body. As the bout progressed, Moran was able to land more consistently, in part by throwing and landing jabs followed by right hands to the head.

Moran added left hooks to his offense. The added element to his attack was rewarded as a left hook to the body dropped Duno late in the fourth round. Duno was able to beat the count, but the end of the fight was inevitable.

After a minute into round five, Moran landed a vicious left hook to the head, dropping Duno to the canvas, where he remained as referee Gene Del Bianco counted him out at 1:25.

Duno, who is originally from the Philippines and now lives and trains in the Los Angeles area, falls to 29-4 (20 KOs).

In the opening bout of the ProBox TV stream, featherweight Mykell Gamble defeated Damian Alcala (7-4, 1 KO) of Chula Vista, California by decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 for Gamble, who improved to 7-0 (4 KOs).

Alcala was game for the most of the fight, but the more-polished Gamble utilized his pedigree to outbox Gamble from the opening bell. Gamble was cut above the right eye from an accidental clash of heads in round five, but that did not deter or alter his game plan.

Gamble resides in Cincinnati, Ohio and is co-managed by former WBO world junior lightweight titleholder Jamel Herring and Jerry Cazarez.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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