By Dan Ambrose: Leo Santa Cruz says he’s going to ask his adviser Al Haymon if he can take Saul Canelo Alvarez’s vacated September 14 date to move up in weight to challenge Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for his WBA Super World super featherweight title, according to Lance Pugmire.
Davis (21-0, 20 KOs) would need to first successfully defend his 130 pound title next week against challenger Ricardo Nunez on July 27. If Davis is successful in that fight, then Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 KOs) could be an option for him.
Gervonta Davis says he’s open to facing Santa Cruz or Tevin Farmer
IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (29-4-1, 6 KOs) could get in the way of a Davis vs. Santa Cruz fight. Farmer’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing USA has been interested in the Davis-Farmer fight for ages. It’s hard to imagine Hearn not making the Davis vs. Farmer fight happen if Gervonta is serious.
Him or tevin can get it next. https://t.co/gDiKQFoF68
— Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) July 19, 2019
Haymon has to know that a fight between Santa Cruz and Davis wouldn’t go well for his fighter. The southpaw Davis, 24, hits incredibly hard, and he’s not easy to hit due to his movement. This would be a bad match-up for the 30-year-old Santa Cruz to take in his first fight at super featherweight.
Gennady Golovkin likely to take September 14
Santa Cruz’s idea to try and snatch Canelo’s vacated September 14 date for himself is a bad one, because former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is likely to take that date. There’s rumors that GGG (39-1-1, 35 KOs) will be facing unbeaten Jaime Munguia on the September 14 date on DAZN.
Even if Golovkin doesn’t face Munguia, he’ll still likely wind up taking that date against someone like Demetrius Andrade. Golovkin can’t face just anybody if he’s going to fight on the Mexican Independence Day holiday, because the millions of boxing fans that will be tuning in will want to see a quality fight. GGG’s last opponent Steve Rolls was a poor one.
Gervonta Davis needs to step it up against a good fighter
Many boxing fans are tiring of seeing Gervonta bulldoze hopelessly over-matched opposition each time he fights. They want to see him step it up against someone good for a change. Santa Cruz would be an excellent opponent for Davis to change things up, and fight a talented fighter for once. Davis’ next opponent Ricardo Nunez (21-2, 19 KOs) is an underwhelming foe. He’s never fought anyone good, and he’s still been beaten twice. Fans wonder why Davis is fighting Nunez when he could be facing much better opposition than this.
In Davis’ last 10 fights, he’s beaten these lesser guys:
– Hugo Ruiz
– Jesus Andres Cuellar
– Francisco Fonseca
– Liam Walsh
– Jose Pedraza
– Mario Antonio Macias
– Guillermo Avila
– Luis Sanchez
– Cristobal Cruz
– Recky Dulay