Léodegario Santa Cruz (born 10 August 1988) is a Mexican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He is a four-weight world champion, having held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Bra ...

title from 2012 to 2013, the WBC

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations o ...

title from 2013 to 2015, the

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International B ...

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title twice between 2015 and 2022, and the WBA (Super)

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the Ne ...

title from 2019 to 2020. In January 2018, he reached a peak

pound for pound Pound for pound is a ranking used in combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or mixed martial arts, of who the better fighters are irrespective of their weight, i.e. adjusted to compensate for weight class. As these fighters do not compete d ...

ranking of sixth by the

Transnational Boxing Rankings Board The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) is an all-volunteer initiative formed in October 2012 with the intention of providing professional boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identifying the singular world champion of every divisio ...

. As of April 2021, he is ranked as the world's fourth best active featherweight by

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profe ...

Amateur career

As an amateur, Santa Cruz compiled a record of 148 wins and 7 losses.

Professional career

Bantamweight

Early years

Santa Cruz made his professional debut, at the age of 18 on 13 October 2006 against Mexican boxer Pedro Silva, winning the fight via knockout in round 2. After drawing his second bout in January 2007 against Rodrigo Hernandez, Santa Cruz went on to win his next thirteen fights, with five coming by stoppage. On 21 October 2010 Santa Cruz beat the veteran James Owens at the Martin's Valley Mansion in

Cockeysville, Maryland Cockeysville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,776 at the 2010 census. History Cockeysville was named after the Cockey family who helped establish the town. Thomas Cockey (1676� ...

. In March 2011, Santa Cruz knocked out the veteran

Stephane Jamoye Stephane Jamoye (born October 5, 1989) is a Belgian professional boxer who held the European bantamweight title from 2012 to 2013. He also challenged for the WBC bantamweight title and WBA (Regular) super bantamweight title in 2014. Amateur car ...

to win the vacant WBC Youth bantamweight championship.

Santa Cruz vs. Malinga

In April 2012, promoter Branco Milenkovic announced that a deal was set for Santa Cruz to fight South African boxer

Vusi Malinga Vus'Umuzi Malinga (born 29 October 1979), best known as Vusi Malinga, is a South African professional boxer. He has challenged three times for a bantamweight world title, in 2009, 2012 and 2013. Professional career Malinga vs. Sahaprom On 12 ...

(20–3–1, 12 KOs) for the vacant IBF bantamweight title. The fight was slated for 2 June at the

Home Depot Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

. The IBF title was left vacant when then-champion Abner Mares moved up in weight. Santa Cruz beat Malinga via unanimous decision to win the IBF bantamweight title. The bout was televised on a

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

boxing card. Two judges scored Santa Cruz the clear winner with scorecards of 120–108 and the third judge gave Malinga one round, scoring the fight 119–109. The fight started off with both boxers trying to out land each other, with Santa Cruz landing the cleaner and power shots. Malinga was hurt numerous times during the fight, but kept coming forward.

Santa Cruz vs. Morel

In August 2012, it was announced that Santa Cruz would make the first defence of his IBF title on the undercard of Saul Álvarez vs.

Josesito López José Manuel "Josesito" López (born July 19, 1984) is an American professional boxer and former world title challenger. Professional career NABF light welterweight championship On January 28, 2011 López took out undefeated Mike Dallas Jr. by ...

on 15 September at the

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Sporting events From its opening on December 18, 199 ...

in Paradise, Nevada. His first defence was rumoured to be against former two-time world champion

Eric Morel Eric Arturo Morel (born October 10, 1975 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is a former World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight (112 lb) champion. Amateur career Morel had an outstanding amateur career, an ...

(46–3, 23 KOs). On fight night, Santa Cruz wore down Morel with body shots, dominating the fight from the opening bell, forcing Morel to quit on his stool before round 6 began. CompuBox stats showed that Santa Cruz landed 66% of his power punches. In total, over five rounds, Santa Cruz landed 277 punches of 509 thrown (54%) and Morel landed 73 of his 344 thrown (21%).

Santa Cruz vs. Zaleta

On 29 October 2012 a deal was reached for Santa Cruz to make a second defence of his IBF title at the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

against Mexican boxer

Victor Zaleta The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

(20–2–1, 10 KOs) on a double header featuring WBC super bantamweight champion

Abner Mares Abner Mares Martínez (born November 28, 1985) is a Mexican-American professional boxer who also works as a boxing analyst and commentator for Showtime. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF ban ...

vs.

Anselmo Moreno Anselmo Moreno (born 28 June 1985) is a Panamanian professional boxer. He held the WBA bantamweight title from 2008 to 2014 (promoted to super champion status in 2011), making him the longest reigning bantamweight world champion of all time, ...

on 10 November. The card was to be shown live on

. Santa Cruz dropped Zaleta three times en route to a TKO victory in round 9 to retain his IBF title. Santa Cruz started the fight the better boxer and began working the body immediately. Zaleta was dropped following a body shot in round 4, again in round 7 following a combination of shots to the head and body and the final knockdown in round 9, again from a combination forced the referee to stop the fight.

Santa Cruz vs. Guevara

On 2 December 2012 Golden Boy Promotions announced a double-header which would take place on CBS at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on 15 December where Santa Cruz would make his third defence in four months against unbeaten Mexican boxer

Alberto Guevara Alberto Gamaliel Guevara Rocha (born 15 July 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer who challenged twice for a bantamweight world title in 2012 and 2013. Professional career On December 15, 2012, Guevara was defeated by Leo Santa Cruz in a fight ...

(16–0, 6 KOs). The last time CBS aired live boxing was 15 years prior in January 1997 when

Bernard Hopkins Bernard Hopkins Jr. (born January 15, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight cla ...

stopped

Glen Johnson Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back. Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was s ...

. The fight was one-sided as Santa Cruz went on to win a unanimous decision to retain his IBF title. Santa Cruz, who was known to have a high punch output did not throw as much as his previous bouts but did enough for the three judges to score the fight 116–112, 118–110, and 119–109 in his favour. Santa Cruz explained the reason for the lower output was because he felt he had fought a lot recently. According to CompuBox Stats, Santa Cruz landed 291 of 989 punches thrown (29%) and Guevara landed 158 of his 793 thrown (20%). Santa Cruz finished the year with 5 wins including 3 title defenses. On 12 February 2013, Santa Cruz vacated his IBF bantamweight belt to move up to junior featherweight.

Super bantamweight

Santa Cruz had his first fight at the super bantamweight limit on the undercard of the

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero, billed as ''May Day'', was a boxing welterweight championship superfight for Mayweather Jr.'s WBC welterweight title and vacant '' The Ring'' welterweight title. The bout was held on May 4, 2013, in the MG ...

Pay-Per-View on 5 May 2013 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was officially announced in March along with the rest of the undercard. Santa Cruz was originally scheduled to fight

Rafael Márquez Rafael Márquez Álvarez (; born 13 February 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer and current head coach of Spanish team Barcelona Atlètic. Nicknamed '' El Káiser'', he is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and on ...

, but he pulled out due to injury. Venezuelan veteran, former super flyweight world champion

Alexander Muñoz Alexander Muñoz (born February 8, 1979) is a Venezuelan professional boxer who has held the WBA super flyweight title twice; from 2002 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2008. He also challenged for the WBA bantamweight title in 2010. Muñoz's strong ...

(36–4, 28 KOs) stepped in. Santa Cruz won the vacant NABF super bantamweight title after stopping Muñoz in round 5. The fight started out with both boxers trading blow, but it was Santa Cruz who was landing the harder and cleaner shots. Muñoz was dropped at the end of round 3 and then nearly went down again in the next round. After taking more punishment from the bigger Santa Cruz, Muñoz's trainer stopped the fight. Santa Cruz landed 52% of his total punches thrown which included 57 body shots.

Santa Cruz vs. Terrazas

On 18 June 2013 Golden Boy announced that Santa Cruz was the

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

with the WBC and would challenge Mexican boxer

Victor Terrazas Víctor José Terrazas Martínez (born February 11, 1983) is a Mexican professional boxer and a former WBC super bantamweight champion. Professional career Terrazas turned professional in 2003 and would lose his first fight to Adrian Tellez ...

(37–2–1, 21 KOs) for his WBC super bantamweight title at the

StubHub Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

in Carson, California on 24 August. The fight would mark Terrazas' first title defence since winning the then-vacant title in April 2013 against

Cristian Mijares Cristian Ricardo Lucio Mijares (born 2 October 1981) is a Mexican former professional boxer. He is a two-time super flyweight champion, having held the unified WBC and WBA (Unified) titles from 2006 to 2008 and the IBF title from 2010 to 2011. ...

. Golden Boy won the rights to promote the fight at the purse bids when they bid $526,000, more than the $451,000 which came from Zanfer Promotions. With Terrazas the champion, due 75%, meaning he would come out with $368,200 and Santa Cruz will get remaining $157,800. Santa Cruz beat Terrazas via a 3rd-round TKO to become a two-weight world champion. Santa Cruz started off quick immediately forcing Terrazas to fight on the back foot. Terrazas was able to fight back but was getting hit a lot in the process. By the end of round 2, Terrazas' right eye began to close due to the offence output of Santa Cruz. In round 3, Santa Cruz dropped Terrazas twice and although he beat the count each time, the referee waved off the fight after the second knockdown. Santa Cruz landed 78 of 267 punches thrown (29%) and Terrazas landed 33 of his 156 thrown (21%). Santa Cruz was credited with landed 33 power shots in round 2.

Santa Cruz vs. Seda

Golden Boy initially tried to make Santa Cruz vs.

for 2 November however negotiations broke down on 9 October. Instead a new deal was being formed for Santa Cruz to make his first voluntary defence against Cesar Seda (25–1, 17 KOs) on 14 December at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on the undercard of the Showtime PPV Marcos Maidana vs. Adrien Broner for the WBA welterweight title. The card was later taken off PPV, but would still be aired on Showtime and would take place at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, Texas. Santa Cruz knocked Seda down once in the fifth-round as he went on to win a unanimous decision when the three judges scored it 117–110, 116–111, 115–112 in his favor. Despite the win, Santa Cruz was disappointing with his performance. CompuBox Stats showed that Santa Cruz landed 297 of 829 punches thrown (36%) and Seda landed 170 of his 649 thrown (26%)

Santa Cruz vs. Mijares

On 9 January 2014 it was announced that Santa Cruz would finally meet veteran Mexican contender

(49–7–2, 24 KOs), also his mandatory challenger at the

in Paradise, Nevada on 8 March, defending his WBC title. The fight would take place on the PPV undercard of Canelo vs. Angulo. For the fight, Santa Cruz would earn $500,000 and Mijares had a $92,000 purse. The fight went the distance as Santa Cruz won on all three judges scorecards (120–108, 120–108, 119–109). Santa Cruz showed respect in the post fight interview to Mijares, who he looked up to before he won his first world title, "Mijares is a great boxer. I came to do what I had to do to win. Mijares had great experience. He's a lefty. I had to be ready. We practiced everything to put on a great fight." Santa Cruz landed 371 of 1043 punches thrown (36%) and Mijares landed 132 of his 574 thrown (23%).

Santa Cruz vs. Roman, Ruiz

Santa Cruz made his next defence on 13 September at the MGM Grand on the Mayweather-Maidana II undercard against Mexican boxer

Manuel Roman Manuel Roman (born January 10, 1988) is a Mexican professional boxer from Paramount, California. As of early 2015 he had 17 wins, 3 losses, and 3 draws. Roman currently fights in the super bantamweight division. On September 13, 2014, Roman lost ...

(17–2–3, 6 KOs) . He stopped Roman in round two to retain his world title. After the fight, Santa Cruz said, "I did my job. That's what I came for. I'm not scared of anyone. I want Rigondeaux and I want my manager nowiki/>Al Haymon">Al_Haymon.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Al Haymon">nowiki/>Al Haymonto make the fight to show I am the best." Three months later on 17 January 2015 Santa Cruz defended his WBC super bantamweight title against Jesus Ruiz (33–5–5, 22 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The fight was announced a month earlier. Santa Cruz was criticized for fighting another low-level regarded opponent prior to the fight. Santa Cruz landed 277 punches to 120 by Ruiz, landing powerful head shots to force the stoppage 29 seconds into the 8th round. At the time of stoppage, Santa Cruz was ahead on all three judges scorecards (69–63, 69–64, 69–64). Santa Cruz earned a purse of $750,000 compared to Ruiz's $50,000. He then defended himself in the post-fight interview, "It was a war, but we came prepared. He gave me a tough fight. We went after him and stopped him. I know he was prepared."

Featherweight

Santa Cruz moved up to featherweight and fought his first fight on 2 May 2015. His opponent was announced as Mexican Jose Cayetano (17–3, 8 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round bout on the

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as the ''Fight of the Century'' or the ''Battle for Greatness'', was a professional boxing superfight between undefeated five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and eight-division world ...

super fight undercard at the MGM Grand Arena. Santa Cruz won every round on all three judges scorecards (100–90, 3 times). Still undefeated, Santa Cruz boasted a record of 30 wins, no losses and 1 draw, with 17 inside the distance.

Santa Cruz vs. Mares

On 3 July 2015 a deal was finally reached for Santa Cruz to challenge fellow Southern Californian

(29–1–1, 15 KOs) for the vacant

featherweight and vacant

WBC Diamond The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

featherweight titles on 29 August at the

in Los Angeles.

Premier Boxing Champions ''Premier Boxing Champions'' (PBC) is an ongoing series of televised boxing events connected to manager Al Haymon. PBC was initially promoted as an effort to return boxing to mainstream broadcast and cable television, as opposed to premium chann ...

confirmed the bout would take place on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. Santa Cruz won the fight via majority decision in a potential fight of the year candidate to win the vacant titles. With the win, Santa Cruz became a three-weight world champion. 13,109 fans were in attendance at the Staples Center. Judge Max Deluca had it a draw at 114–114 whilst judges Jesse Reyes and Steve Morrow scored it 117–111 for Santa Cruz. "I was surprised Abner came out so strong. He came right at me but we figured him out and we got the win. I stayed outside with the jab. We were able to take control.", said Santa Cruz in the post fight interview. The whole card averaged 1.217 million on ESPN and peaked towards the end at 1.641 million viewers. The figures were recorded as the highest on ESPN since 1998. The bout was also televised on Spanish-only network

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (wh ...

and averaged 355,000 viewers, another record.

Santa Cruz vs. Martínez

In January 2016, Showtime announced they would televise Santa Cruz's first defence against

Kiko Martínez Francisco "Kiko" Martínez Sánchez (born 7 March 1986) is a Spanish professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF featherweight title from 2021 to 2022, and the IBF super-bantamweight title from 2013 t ...

(35–6, 26 KOs), scheduled to take place on 28 February at the

Honda Center The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

. For the fight, Martínez replaced usual trainer Gabriel Sarmiento with well-known trainer Robert García. Santa Cruz successfully retained his title by defeating Martínez via fifth-round TKO. Martínez was knocked down twice in Round 1, but beat the referee's count and continued to back Santa Cruz up in an entertaining slugfest. Both fighter combined threw over 1,000 punches in less than five full rounds. Santa Cruz hurt Martínez in round 5 when he cornered him and hurt him with right hands. Santa Cruz continued with a series of combinations until referee Raul Caiz Sr. jumped in at 2:09 as Martínez stopped throwing back. Santa Cruz landed 55% of his power punches.

Santa Cruz vs. Frampton I, II

On 22 April 2016 negotiations were complete for Santa Cruz to defend his

WBA (super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International B ...

featherweight title against

Carl Frampton Carl Frampton (born 21 February 1987) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 2009 to 2021. He is a former two-weight world champion, having held the WBA (Unified) and IBF super-bantamweight titles between 2014 ...

(22–0, 14 KOs), who was moving up from super bantamweight on 30 July 2016 at the

Barclays Center Barclays Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association. The ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

. In a potential fight of the year candidate, Santa Cruz lost his title to Frampton via a 12-round majority decision win before a crowd of 9,062. One judge scored it a 114–114 draw but the others made Frampton the winner, 116–112 and 117–111. Frampton had a higher accuracy rate, despite both fighters landing equal numbers of punches. According to CompuBox stats, Frampton landed 242 of 668 punches (36 percent), whilst Santa Cruz connected on 255 of 1,002 blows (25 percent). In the post fight, Frampton said he wanted to defend the title in his home city and did not want to rule out a rematch. The fight averaged 480,000 and peaked at 549,000 viewers. A rematch was confirmed between Santa Cruz and Frampton in October to take place. Originally discussed to take place at Frampton's hometown of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

, the venue was confirmed to be at the MGM Grand in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

on 28 January 2017. 10,085 were in attendance as Santa Cruz regained his title with a majority decision (114–114, 115–113, 115–113). Santa Cruz and Frampton immediately discussed interest in a third fight, possibly in Frampton's hometown of

. Frampton earned a purse of $1 million compared to $900,000 that Santa Cruz received. In the post-fight, Santa Cruz said, "Before the fight I said I wanted revenge and I wanted to work hard. I went to the gym and I worked hard, and I did what I had to do. Carl Frampton is a good fighter. Let's make it a third fight!" Frampton only landed 133 of his 592 punches thrown (22%) whereas Santa Cruz landed 230 of his 884 thrown (26%). Nielsen Media Research reported the fight averaged 587,000 and peaked at 643,000 viewers.

Santa Cruz vs. Avalos

On 3 April 2017 the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Box ...

ordered a rematch between Santa Cruz and their "regular" champion

(30–2–1, 15 KOs). This was done as part of WBA's ongoing plan to reduce the number of world titles. Mares became mandatory challenger and "regular" titleholder after winning a split decision against Argentine boxer

Jesus Cuellar Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

in December 2016. Due to the negotiations taking too long, the WBA ordered a deal be made by 11 July 2017 or the fight would go to purse bids on 21 July. The fight was supposedly set for 9 September at the

, but nothing materialized. Due to the

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai Wisaksil Wangek ( th, วิศักดิ์ศิลป์ วังเอก; born 8 December 1986), better known by his ring name Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (ศรีสะเกษ ศ.รุ่งวิสัย), is a Thai professional boxe ...

– Roman González rematch taking place on the 9 September at the

Stubhub Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

in Carson,

AEG Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, A ...

, who own both venues said they would push the Santa Cruz-Mares rematch back to take place on 7 October instead. On 18 August, it was announced that negotiations had broken down. On 25 August, Mares told Ringtv that he and Santa Cruz would still appear on the same card on 14 October on Fox. The fight would take place in the afternoon, on the same card

Jermell Charlo Jermell DeAvante Charlo (born May 19, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He is currently the undisputed light middleweight world champion, having held the WBC title since 2019 (and previously from 2016 to 2018), the WBA (Super), IBF and '' ...

defends his WBC light middleweight title against

Erickson Lubin Erickson Lubin (born October 1, 1995) is an American professional boxer who challenged for the WBC super welterweight title in 2017. As of January 2022, he is ranked as the world's fourth best active super welterweight by '' The Ring'' magazine ...

in the evening on Showtime. Advisor

Al Haymon Al Haymon (born April 21, 1955) is an American businessman and boxing manager. He was the manager of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and has won the Boxing Writers of America Manager of the Year Award five times. Early life Haymon was raised in Cleveland, ...

re-assured Mares that a rematch with Santa Cruz would still take place. On 30 August, it was announced that Santa Cruz's opponent would be

Chris Avalos Christopher Matthew Avalos (born November 5, 1989) is an American professional boxer who challenged for the IBF super bantamweight title in 2015 and the WBA (Super) featherweight title in 2017. At regional level he held the WBO- NABO bantamwei ...

, while Mares would fight

Andrés Gutiérrez Andrés Gutiérrez Vera (born 8 July 1993) is a Mexican professional boxer. He challenged for the WBA featherweight title in 2017. Professional career On 7 August 2010 Gutiérrez beat veteran Carlos Aboyte by first round K.O. In July 2017, he ...

. Avalos came into the fight with a 2–3 record in his last 5 fights since 2015. In a one-sided beatdown, Santa Cruz stopped Avalos in the eighth round. The end came with Santa Cruz piling hurtful power shots on Avalos, when referee Thomas Taylor had seen enough, he stepped in at 1 minute, 34 seconds. Avalos never got started in the fight, which was all Santa Cruz. After a slow start in the opening round, Santa Cruz began to pick his power shots to the head and body. Avalos connected on his own shots, but lacked the power to hurt Santa Cruz. Avalos was not happy with the stoppage, "I'm very upset with the stoppage. We were fighting the whole time. There was no reason to stop this fight. I wasn't hurt like the referee thought. I want to fight for the title again." Santa Cruz spoke about the game plan for the fight saying, "At the beginning, I wasn't doing what my corner was telling me. I was trying to please the fans. I wanted to give

he fans He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

a brawl, a toe-to-toe, my dad said, 'What are you doing, you are supposed to beat him from the outside' – and that's what we did in the later rounds." CompuBox stats showed exactly how the fight went with Santa Cruz landing 281 of 692 punches thrown (41%) and Avalos landing 169 of 751 thrown (23%). Mares was also victorious in his fight, setting up a rematch between himself and Santa Cruz. The card averaged 1,483,000 viewers on Fox.

Santa Cruz vs. Mares II

Soon after stopping Avalos, talks re-emerged for the Santa Cruz vs. Mares fight. In December 2017, Ringstar Promotions'

Richard Schaefer Richard Schaefer is a Swiss professional boxing promoter. He was the former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which he left in 2014. In 2016 he founded his own boxing promotional company Ringstar Sports. Biography Schaefer grew up in Switzerland. H ...

stated it's a fight both fighters wanted and the only detail to discuss was finding the best venue and date for the fight. A strong candidate for hosting the fight was the

in Los Angeles, the venue of the first fight. On 24 January 2018 Showtime announced the fight would take place at the Staples Center on 9 June 2018. The fight was made official on 2 April. Santa Cruz defeated Mares via unanimous decision after 12 rounds to retain his WBA (Super) featherweight title. Santa Cruz outworked Mares using his powerful jab, right hand and left hooks. Mares connected with nice shots, but Santa Cruz was the busier boxer and continued to land the more powerful shots to win the rounds. The three judges Rey Danseco of the Philippines, Steve Weisfeld, and Zac Young both of the United States scored the fight 115–113, 116–112 and 117–111, respectively, in favor of Santa Cruz. After the fight, Santa Cruz expressed interest in fighting WBC featherweight champion

Gary Russell Jr. Gary Allen Russell Jr. (born June 5, 1988) is an American professional boxer who held the WBC featherweight title from 2015 to 2022. As of October 2022, he is ranked as the world's seventh best active featherweight by '' The Ring'' magazine, f ...

in a unification fight. He said "It was a great fight – another war. I had to be smarter. ... Abner is a great fighter. He left his heart out there." He then added, "Hopefully I am

he best featherweight in the world He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

But I leave it to the fans to say who is the best. ... I want Gary Russell. Let's unify. I'm not scared of anybody." According to CompuBox, Santa Cruz landed 357 of 1061 punches (34%) and Mares landed 208 of 931 (22%). CompuBox reported for the two fights combined, Santa Cruz landed 730 of 2115 punched thrown (35%) and Mares landed 434 of his 1908 thrown (23%). Combined they landed 1164 of a total 4023 punches thrown (29%) over the 24 rounds. For the bout, Santa Cruz reportedly earned $1 million and Mares earned a $750,000 purse. The fight averaged 600,000 on Showtime and peaked at 633,000 viewers. These numbers were much lower than their first bout, however that bout was aired on ESPN.

Santa Cruz vs. Rivera

In November 2018, PBC and

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

announced that Santa Cruz would defend his WBA title against Miguel Flores on 16 February 2019. A month later, the

Microsoft Theater The Microsoft Theater (formerly Nokia Theatre L.A. Live) is a music and theater venue in downtown Los Angeles, California, at L.A. Live. The theater auditorium seats 7,100 and holds one of the largest indoor stages in the United States. History ...

in Los Angeles was confirmed as the venue. However, Flores was forced to withdraw from the fight after suffering an ankle injury in camp. Rafael Rivera was confirmed as the replacement on 24 January. Rafael Rivera was ranked #11 by the WBA at featherweight. Santa Cruz won the bout via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 119–109.

Super Featherweight

Santa Cruz vs. Flores

On 26 August 2019, Santa Cruz confirmed that he was planning on moving up to the super featherweight division. In late September, it was revealed that a fight with Miguel Flores was in the works for the vacant WBA (Super) super featherweight title. The match was ultimately confirmed and placed on the main card of Wilder vs. Ortiz II on 23 November. Despite a subpar performance, Santa Cruz managed to outwork Flores and won via unanimous decision with two judges scoring the bout 117–110 and a third scoring it 115–112. In his post-fight interview, Santa Cruz called out Gary Russell and stated that he'd be willing to move up to lightweight for a potential fight with

Gervonta Davis Gervonta Davis ( ; born November 7, 1994) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA (Regular) lightweight title since 2019; the IBF super featherweight title in 2017 ...

Santa Cruz vs. Davis

In April 2020, it was confirmed by

Mayweather Promotions Mayweather Promotions, LLC is a boxing promotional firm founded in 2007 by Floyd Mayweather Jr., after exercising a provision in his contract with Bob Arum and Top Rank that allowed him to become a free agent for the price of $750,000. Al Haymon ...

that Santa Cruz would be Gervonta Davis’ next opponent, although a June fight date was postponed due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. It was also announced that both fighters would make their

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

debut, with the fight set to be broadcast on

. Davis, who had recently moved up to the lightweight division, agreed to move back down to super featherweight. However, both Davis’ WBA (Regular) lightweight title and Santa Cruz's WBA (Super) featherweight title would be on the line. Having been initially scheduled for 24 October at the

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

, the fight was rescheduled for 31 October at the

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. This move would allow the event to hold a live audience at 50% capacity. Santa Cruz seemed comfortable during the duration of the fight, however the Mexican constantly left himself vulnerable during his high-volume barrages. In the sixth round, Davis landed a flush left uppercut, knocking out Santa Cruz and leaving him unconscious. Referee Rafael Ramos instantly waved off the fight, handing Santa Cruz his second career loss.

Professional boxing record

References

Video references

External links

*
Leo Santa Cruz – Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Cruz, Leo Boxers from Michoacán World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions International Boxing Federation champions World bantamweight boxing champions World featherweight boxing champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions 1988 births Living people People from Huetamo Mexican male boxers Lightweight boxers