On Tuesday, July 14, 2015, Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17 KOs) and Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs) met at Plaza Mexico to officially announce their Saturday, August 29 Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN showdown which will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
The highly-anticipated matchup pits two of the best Featherweights in the world and gives each fighter a shot at redemption in boxing fans’ minds.
Santa Cruz–while undefeated as professional–has faced severe criticism for fighting sub-par competition and flip flopping on a potential fight with Cuban slickster, Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Mares on the other hand is looking to prove that he has fully recovered from a devastating first-round knockout to Jhonny Gonzalez where Mares lost his WBC belt.
Mares is anxious to show that he is still one of the best fighters in the world and that he will be huge step up in class for Santa Cruz.
“Leo Santa Cruz is a fighter who has fought nothing but C-level fighters. Now he’s fighting an A-level fighter. I’m going to show him what an A-level fighter does and that’s win,” said a confident Mares at the opening press conference.
Battle lines will certainly be drawn in this Southern California matchup, but regardless of which side you’re on Santa Cruz believes this is a win-win situation for the fans.
“I think the fans are the ones who are going to win on August 29th. They are going to get a great fight out there. It’s going to be a war,” said Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz is obviously happy to be able to prepare for a bout that fans are embracing as legitimate fight, instead of having to defend his decision to fight another no-name insurance agent.
“I don’t care what he said about my competition. I’ve wanted to fight him for a long time, this going to be a great fight,” said Santa Cruz.
Who do you favor in the Featherweight showdown between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares?
