By Dan Ambrose: WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15 KOs) told WBA/WBO 122 pound champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (14-0, 9 KO’s) that he’s ready to face him in a brief exchange on twitter this week.
Rigondeaux and his manager Gary Hyde said that they’re willing to face Santa Cruz in his next scheduled fight date on September 13th on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Marcos Maidana 2 fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rigondeaux said to Santa Cruz “I’m ready to fight you in September anywhere. Team Rigondeaux are ready for you!”
We train 100% in the gym to give the fans great fights.We are ready to fight @RigoElChacal305 anytime any place @MTBOXINGTEAM #TeamSantaCruz
— Leo Santa Cruz (@leosantacruz2) July 24, 2014
The obvious question is will Golden Boy Promotions allow Santa Cruz to fight someone as good as Rigondeaux? He’s no longer with Top Rank, but he’s still someone that brings nothing but danger for a guy like Santa Cruz, who is easy to hit and who mainly wins his fights by out-hitting his opponents.
Santa Cruz is like a smaller version of Antonio Margarito, and it’s not likely that he’ll do well against a skilled technician like Rigondeaux. Even if Rigondeaux fights in a more offensive manner by sitting down on his shots and staying in the pocket more, he would appear to be a much better fighter than Santa Cruz.
There’s been talk of Santa Cruz possibly fighting WBA regular 122 pound champion Scott Quigg in the future, but that obviously isn’t going to be happening in September. The Rigondeaux fight is the better one even if it is the more dangerous one. Santa Cruz faces the much better fighter in Rigondeaux with the better upside if he beats him. Beating Rigondeaux would be huge for Santa Cruz’s career.
A win over Quigg won’t be nearly as big a deal, because he hasn’t looked invincible in his recent fights when facing guys that have a little bit of talent. If Santa Cruz were to lose to Rigondeaux, his career won’t be over, because he’ll still be considered one of the best fighters in the super bantamweight division and he’ll be able to go after Quigg’s WBA title to recapture a belt at 122.
Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions would be taking a big risk in letting Santa Cruz fight Rigondeaux, and I don’t see him doing that. He says he wants to put together the fights the fans want to see, but I don’t think he’ll make this fight.
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