By Dan Ambrose: WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) has been given another opponent for his May 2nd fight on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Santa Cruz, 26, will be fighting Tijuana resident Jose Cayetano (17-3, 8 KOs) in a 10 round non-title bout.
Like the two previous opponents, Cayetano is a 2nd tier fighter with a mediocre record and a recent loss. He’s not ranked top 15 at 122, and he’s never beaten anyone of note. The two previous opponents that were tentatively scheduled to face Santa Cruz on the May 2nd card were Anthony Settoul (20-3, 8 KOs) and Alexis Santiago (18-3-1, 8 KOs).
Settoul, Santiago and Cayetano all have a similar record and it looks like Santa Cruz’s management want a particular type of opponent for him to fight rather than someone with a fighting chance of beating him.
You can understand why Santa Cruz’s management don’t want to take any chances with him by putting him in with anyone good because he’s being setup for a fight against former three division world champion Abner Mares this year. The thing is that Mares’ and Santa Cruz’s stock has both dropped so much in the past year due to them both being involved in mismatch after mismatch that a fight between them really isn’t a big deal at this point.
Mares was knocked out in the 1st round in August 2013. Since that defeat, Mares has had three consecutive mismatches against Jonathan Oquendo, Jose Ramirez and Arturo Santos Reyes. Sadly, those mismatches have eaten up two years of Mares’ career. That’s not a smart move when a fighter in his prime loses two of his best years fighting lower level opposition.
Santa Cruz is in the same situation as Mares only he hasn’t been beaten yet. Santa Cruz chewed up all of 2014 fighting these over-matched fighters Cristian Mijares and Manuel Roman. In 2015, he’s already had one mismatch against Jesus Ruiz and now he’s going to have another one with Jose Cayetano. If Santa Cruz doesn’t step it up this year to face Mares, he will have eaten up two years of his career like Mares has had in fighting weak opposition.
“This is who they dug up to fight Santa Cruz on the Mayweather-Pacquiao card: Jose Cayetano (17-3, 8 KOs). #boxing,” Dan Rafael said on his twitter.
Cayetano lost his last fight to journeyman Enrique Bernache (20-7) by a 10 round unanimous decision last February in a one-sided defeat by the scores of 99-91, 97-92 and 100-88. The obvious question when you see a fighter like Cayetano losing to another limited fighter is why didn’t Santa Cruz’s management match him against the guy that easily beat Cayetano? It doesn’t make sense unless you’re looking for a very easy showcase opponent for Santa Cruz to look sensational beating. There is a method to this madness I’m sure. Casual boxing fans won’t know that Cayetano was just some over-matched guy grabbed at the last second, and they’ll wind up impressed with Santa Cruz and see him better than he really is.
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