Who wants the belt more? Champ, challenger disagree

Saturday

Boxing: Angelo Leo vs. Ra’eese Aleem, several other bouts at Gateway Center Arena, College Park, Ga. Streaming: DAZN (subscription service), 6 p.m.

If Ra’eese Aleem sees Angelo Leo as the rich kid who lives at the top of the hill, relatively speaking, it’s understandable.

As Albuquerque’s Leo prepares to defend his International Boxing Federation featherweight (126-pound) title against Aleem Saturday in Atlanta, the challenger believes he has the emotional and motivational edge.

“I’ve always believed I was a top fighter in the sport, in the division, and I just never got the opportunity to showcase it,” Aleem (23-1, 12 knockouts) said during a recent interview with Brian Custer on the boxing site “The Last Stand.”

“… I finally, finally got my shot, my opportunity.”

Aleem, it’s true, has had the more arduous path to Saturday’s showdown: fights in 15 different states and two foreign countries on cards staged by at least 13 different promoters. For a short period of time, the Muskegon, Michigan native and former prep running back had no trainer.

It’s not as if Leo’s path to the title he holds has been strewn with rose petals.

Having come so far and overcome so much, he told Custer in an interview shared remotely with Aleem, he’s far from satisfied.

“Same goes for me,” he said. “I’m going in there and I’m gonna keep that belt. … I worked too hard to get here.”

Yes, the journey hasn’t been easy.

After struggling to advance his career in New Mexico, Leo (26-1, 12 KOs) and his father, Miguel, moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, circa 2016. For a period of time, they lived out of their car.

Things got better. Signed by Mayweather Promotions, Leo fought his way to the top of the super bantamweight division — defeating Tramaine Williams for the WBO 122-pound title in a deserted (thanks, COVID) Uncasville, Connecticut arena in August 2020.

But he lost to Stephen Fulton in his first defense and one fight later parted ways with Mayweather. Then came a 2-1/2 year ring hiatus during which he seriously considered leaving the sport for a career in real estate.

Good fortune, in the person of promoter Garry Jonas of ProBoxTV.com, stepped in — putting Leo, 31, on the path to the IBF title he won on a Top Rank, Inc., card at Albuquerque’s Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 10, 2024 — landing a crushing left hook to the head of Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez that separated the now-former champion from his senses in the 10th round.

This time, Leo would not lose that first defense. Citing the maturity he’d acquired since the loss to Fulton, he defeated Tomoki Kameda by majority decision in the challenger’s hometown of Osaka, Japan last May.

And if Aleem is motivated by disrespect — not from Leo; trash talk between the two has hovered near zero — Leo has been chafed by negative comparisons to his fellow featherweight champions: Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Brandon Figueroa (WBA) and Bruce Carrington (WBC).