By Lou Eisen: In a rather surprising move, the WBC world super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, KO17) has parted ways with his longtime promoter, Golden Boy Promotions and joined forces with boxing’s number one power broker, Al Haymon. Haymon used to act as an adviser Santa Cruz but now has become his full time manager of record.
To be precise, Al Haymon purchased the contract of Santa Cruz from Golden Boy Promotions, taking sole control of his already flourishing career.
Golden Boy Promotions owner and founder, Oscar De La Hoya was working hard to book a super bantamweight title unification bout between Santa Cruz and Cuban wunderkind Guillermo Rigondeaux. De La Hoya and fight fans worldwide were under the distinct impression that Santa Cruz was eager to prove his mastery over the Cuban boxing master. In fact, Santa Cruz had made a habit of calling out Rigondeaux after most of his recent victories. Yet, when push came to shove, Santa Cruz opted to become a free agent, not beholden to any promoter.
It is highly unlikely that Haymon will allow Santa Cruz to face Rigondeaux for a variety of reasons and Santa Cruz seems to be all right with that decision, unfortunately. This may be a good move for Santa Cruz but it is bad news for fight fans. Such a move does not say much about the credibility of Santa Cruz. To be the best you must fight the best and Santa Cruz is clearly not willing to do so at this time.
Does this mean that Santa Cruz was being less than honest with his legion of fight fans? That is hard to say with any degree of certainty. Oscar de la Hoya was attempting to secure for Santa Cruz the fights he so desired. After his most recent win, an eighth stoppage victory over the serviceable Robert Ruiz at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Santa Cruz once again called out Rigondeaux (15-0, KO10), challenging him to a super bantamweight title unification fight.
Rigondeaux is the superb, as yet unbeaten WBO super bantamweight champion and the WBA super world super bantamweight champ as well. This is a fight that boxing fans the world over would love to see as it contains all of the necessary elements to be a bona fide Fight of the Year candidate.
Santa Cruz and Rigondeaux match up well together. A fight between them would be a classic puncher versus boxer bout and that always makes for outstanding, action-packed fights. Santa Cruz is always coming forward, throwing hard, vicious punches from all angles. Santa Cruz puts his punches together well in dynamic, pain inducing combinations.
Santa Cruz’s relentless, two-fisted body attack is a thing of beauty, savage though it may be. Cruz has heavy hands and a thudding jab and is able to get great leverage on all of his power shots, including his jab. Even when Santa Cruz partially catches an opponent with a shot, he does untold damage. Santa Cruz never misses an opportunity to capitalize on his foes mistakes. He is an indomitable fighter who is able to raise the level of his game as a fight progresses.
The fights of Santa Cruz are always exciting as he is perpetually coming forward, looking to take out his ring rivals with every shot he throws. One can only hope that the change from GBP to Haymon will not in any way adversely affect or change Santa Cruz’s eye-popping, fan-friendly fighting style.
Rigondeaux is a classic Cuban boxer whose ring generalship is unequaled in the sport today except perhaps for Floyd Mayweather Jr. Rigondeaux is a defensive master, with perfect balance and tremendous ring vision. His feet are more than educated. They have a doctorate in boxing mobility. He is also a master of the lost art of the head and shoulder feint, using both to lure his rivals out of position and thus, ready to be hit. Rigondeaux has very fast hands, and puts his punches together in very tight, short, multi-punch flurries. He knows exactly when to go to an opponent’s body in order to bring his arms down, freeing up his head for further abuse.
Rigondeaux was not thought to possess devastating punching power. However, on January 31, 2014, he put that misconception to rest forever by stopping Hisashi Amagasa in round 11 at the Bodymaker Colosseum, in Osaka, Japan. Rigondeaux showed his mental and physical toughness by rising from two knockdowns in round seven. He came roaring back to floor Amagasa in round nine and stop him in round 11.
Another major difference between the two warriors is that Cruz throws looping punches whereas Rigondeaux throws his shots in a tight arc. In a clash between the two combatants, look for Rigondeaux to get their first with his shots but for Santa Cruz to land the heavier blows. The question to be answered is whose shots will have the more concussive effect?
Rigondeaux wears his foes down with an accumulation of pinpoint accurate shots. Santa Cruz has numbing power and is able to chop a man down and render him senseless with just three to four blows at a time. The fact that such a sensational contest is now thought to be unattainable at this moment is particularly upsetting when you consider that De La Hoya was well on his way to making this fight a reality. Now with Santa Cruz’s sudden departure for seemingly greener pastures a unification bout with Rigondeaux is nothing more than a mirage.
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