Fibroso
04-21-2015, 10:46 AM
Santa Cruz moving up to 126, wants Mareshttp://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/photo/2014/0913/box_g_santacruz_kh_1296x729.jpg&h=402&scale=crop&w=1006&location=origin
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Junior featherweight titleholder Leo Santa is set to appear in the co-feature of the May 2 mega fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, but he will not be defending his 122-pound world title.
In his past two fights, both title defenses, Santa Cruz whacked out no-hopers and has taken severe criticism from fans for his soft schedule. Now the 26-year-old Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs), who does not yet have an opponent set for May 2, is likely to take on another soft touch as he is moving up in weight to make his featherweight debut.
"We want to look for new things. We want to try 126 [pounds]. See how we feel there," Santa Cruz said during an interview on Showtime during its Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Andrzej Fonfara telecast on Saturday night. "If we feel strong we want to look for another title right there, another shot. If not, we want to move [back] down to 122 and stay there. But I think we're gonna feel good at 126."
If Santa Cruz leaves 122 pounds for good he will do so without having faced a serious opponent and having avoided unified champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, who has been calling him out, as well as titleholders Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg, who have also expressed interest in facing him.
Santa Cruz said he wants to fight fellow Mexican Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs), a former three-division titleholder. That is an attractive fight and one that would be easy to make because they are both with manager Al Haymon.
It is a fight many expect to be made this year now that Haymon is regularly matching his fighters on his "Premier Boxing Champions" series -- although Mares-Santa Cruz would also make a lot of sense on Showtime, which has put so much time and money into both boxers.
"Now [Mares] wants to fight me," Santa Cruz said. "The fans want it and I want it too, so I think we're gonna give the fans what they want. We're gonna push the team to make that fight happen. Mares been talking a lot of things, bad things, so I want that fight to happen. I think it's very possible."
My opinion is who he doesn't want is Guillermo Rigondeaux,
Al Bello/Getty Images
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Junior featherweight titleholder Leo Santa is set to appear in the co-feature of the May 2 mega fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, but he will not be defending his 122-pound world title.
In his past two fights, both title defenses, Santa Cruz whacked out no-hopers and has taken severe criticism from fans for his soft schedule. Now the 26-year-old Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs), who does not yet have an opponent set for May 2, is likely to take on another soft touch as he is moving up in weight to make his featherweight debut.
"We want to look for new things. We want to try 126 [pounds]. See how we feel there," Santa Cruz said during an interview on Showtime during its Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Andrzej Fonfara telecast on Saturday night. "If we feel strong we want to look for another title right there, another shot. If not, we want to move [back] down to 122 and stay there. But I think we're gonna feel good at 126."
If Santa Cruz leaves 122 pounds for good he will do so without having faced a serious opponent and having avoided unified champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, who has been calling him out, as well as titleholders Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg, who have also expressed interest in facing him.
Santa Cruz said he wants to fight fellow Mexican Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs), a former three-division titleholder. That is an attractive fight and one that would be easy to make because they are both with manager Al Haymon.
It is a fight many expect to be made this year now that Haymon is regularly matching his fighters on his "Premier Boxing Champions" series -- although Mares-Santa Cruz would also make a lot of sense on Showtime, which has put so much time and money into both boxers.
"Now [Mares] wants to fight me," Santa Cruz said. "The fans want it and I want it too, so I think we're gonna give the fans what they want. We're gonna push the team to make that fight happen. Mares been talking a lot of things, bad things, so I want that fight to happen. I think it's very possible."
My opinion is who he doesn't want is Guillermo Rigondeaux,