By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs) could be facing WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) in a unification fight. Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya is reportedly interested in letting Santa Cruz face the hard hitting Cuban fighter.
This is likely something that is being driven by Santa Cruz himself rather than De La Hoya, because Santa Cruz has talked about wanting to test himself against Rigondeaux.
MIAMI (Jan. 28, 2015) – World Boxing Association (WBA) Super, World Boxing Organization (WBO) and The Ring Magazine super bantamweight champion Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs) is encouraged by reports that World Boxing Council (WBC) title-holder Leo Santa Cruz’ promoter, Oscar de la Hoya, believes a Rigondeaux-Santa Cruz unification fight has to happen.
Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Dan Ambrose: At today’s weigh-in, WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16 KOs) stated that he’s interested in facing either Abner Mares of Guillermo Rigondeaux next if he can get past his opponent Jesus Ruiz (33-5-5, 22 KOs) this Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Santa Cruz is expected to have an easy time beating Ruiz, though, as he was pooled from the bottom of the featherweight division rather than from the top.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Dan Ambrose: American heavyweight challenger Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) will be getting the biggest purse on Saturday night in the Stiverne-Wilder card against WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wilder, who is promoted by adviser Al Haymon, will be getting a cool $1 million for the first title shot of his career. For his part, Stiverne, 36, will be collecting $910,000. It’s not a bad payday for Stiverne, who is finally tasting the good money as he nears 40.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Scott Gilfoid: WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16 KOs) says he’s interested in facing the two UK 122 pound world champions Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg in 2015 if possible. Santa Cruz especially is interested in facing Frampton, as he thinks it would be an interesting fight.
As for Quigg, he notes that Quigg is still licking his wounds from his last fight and not in position to take a fight against him at this time.
Santa Cruz, 26, has a simple stay busy fight this Saturday night against little known Jesus Ruiz (33-5-5, 22 KOs) on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder vs. Bermane Stiverne heavyweight clash on Showtime Championship Boxing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
By Dan Ambrose: With few boxing fans talking about his upcoming mismatch against fringe contender Jesus Ruiz (33-5-5, 22 KOs) on January 17th, WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16 KOs) has been doing a lot of talking about wanting to fight WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux and Abner Mares.
Santa Cruz is also interested in facing Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg. However, Rigondeaux and Mares appear to be on the top of his list right now for obvious reasons. They’re the bigger fights for Santa Cruz that would give him the most cache with boxing fans if he were to win those fights.
CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. (Jan. 8, 2015) – Undefeated WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles participated in a jam-packed open media workout Thursday at Who’s Next Boxing Academy as he continues to prepare for his title defense against Mexico’s Jesus “Estrella” Ruiz (33-5-5, 22 KOs) on Saturday, Jan. 17, live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
By Dan Ambrose: WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz’s showcase fight against Jesus Ruiz (33-5-5, 22 KOs) is now official for January 17th on Showtime Championship Boxing on the same card as the heavyweight bout between Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne. It’s assumed that it will be the co-feature on that card.
You can read “showcase” to mean mismatch in this case, because Ruiz, ranked #14 in featherweight division, is not likely going to be a competitive match-up unless Santa Cruz has slipped a couple of notches since his last fight.
By Dan Ambrose: Instead of taking on WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux up on his offer to face him on January 17th, WBC 122 pound champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16 KOs) may be putting his WBC title on the line against 2nd tier fighter Jesus Ruiz (33-5-5, 22 KOs) on the undercard of the Bermane Stiverne vs. Deontay Wilder heavyweight championship bout on Showtime at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dan Rafael of ESPN is reporting that Santa Cruz vs. Ruiz is a possibility for the January 17th card. This obviously is a disappointing fight if you were looking for a competitive match-up from Santa Cruz, because there some talented contenders in the division like Hugo Ruiz, Andres Gutierrez, Kid Galahad, Luis Rosas, Kiko Martinez and Jesse Magdaleno.
By Scott Gilfoid: Barry McGuigan, the adviser for IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (19-0, 13 KOs), sees big things for him in 2015. Frampton has a title defense against #1 IBF Chris Avalos (25-2, 19 KOs) on February 28th at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
McGuigan sees Frampton winning that fight, and then moving on to face WBA belt holder Scott Quigg, and then possibly WBC champion Leo Santa Cruz. What’s interesting is that McGuigan isn’t saying a word about wanting to match Frampton against WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, even though he’s considered to be far the best fighter in the division.