By Jake Donovan
Already a decorated knockout artist inside the ring, Angel ‘Tito’ Acosta is now ready to test his power beyond the ropes.
The hard-hitting junior flyweight from Puerto Rico is ready to take on the world following hls latest win, knocking out former titlist Ganigan Lopez (35-9, 19KOs) in eight rounds this past Saturday in Indio, Calf. The DAZN-streamed bout marked his third successful title defense since winning the crown in Dec. ’17 and is now on the hunt for bigger game.
“I do have all of the other champions on my radar, it doesn’t matter the organization they fight for,” Acosta (20-1, 20KOs) told BoxingScene.com. “I would love to fight either of the champions from Japan (Ken Shiro and Hiroti Kyoguchi) or even (Nicaragua’s Felix Alvarado). I’m ready for all of them.”
Saturday’s win was Acosta’s third straight since a hard-fought but clear loss to Japan’s Kosei Tanaka in his first title fight attempt in 2017. He claimed the vacant belt in his very next fight after Tanaka moved up to flyweight in becoming a three-division titlist.
Armed with a perfect knockout-to-win percentage and the highest knockout-to-fight percentage (95.2%) in junior flyweight title fight history, Acosta believes he’s ready for main event status against the division’s elite—accompanied by main event-sized paychecks.
“I want to unify but also want to get properly compensated,” notes Acosta. “I have 20 wins, all by knockout. I’ve proven I’m worth the big money fights.”
At one point, Golden Boy was angling for Acosta to take on Felix Alvarado in a mouthwatering unification bout. At the time, however, the bout was designed to be packaged with a 130-pound clash between Alberto Machado and Rene Alvarado, Felix’s brother and a veteran contender.
Those plans were shot to sunshine after Machado lost his 130-pound title and unbeaten record in a shocker to Andrew Cancio this past February. The weight-drained Boricua has since insisted on remaining at the weight and demanding an immediate rematch, which could still be paired with Acosta’s next fight—be it versus Alvarado or whomever.
A quick turnaround isn’t out of the question. Apparently neither is his remaining at junior flyweight, despite struggling to hit the divisional limit during the pre-fight weigh-in for his most recent title defense.
“It wasn’t an issue,” Acosta shrugged off, chalking up the brief scare to a timing issue while shedding his last few ounces. “I plan to stay at 108 pounds for the rest of the year; I really don’t have any problem making or maintaining the weight.
“My plan is to defend my title against the best fighters Golden Boy Promotions and Miguel Cotto Promotions can line up for me. I want to stay active and collect all of the titles.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
