Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16 KOs) will take on Jesus Ruiz (33-5-5, 22 KOs) on January 17 as the co-main event of the Heavyweight title fight between Bermane Stiverne and Deontay Wilder at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to RingTV.com.
The card is jointly promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Don King Productions and will be presented by Showtime Sports.
Santa Cruz, 26, of Rosemead, California, is coming off a second-round KO victory over former sparring partner Manuel Roman in September and looks to retain his undefeated record.
Ruiz, 24, of Nogales, Mexico, is coming off five wins, including a KO victory over Ruben Tamayo.
Santa Cruz has faced criticism in recent months for fighting Roman in September and for being advised by Al Haymon, who was also behind Danny Garcia’s vicious stoppage of overmatched Rod Salka in August.
The fight with Ruiz is unlikely to placate his critics as Ruiz is unranked in the Super Bantamweight division by the four major sanctioning bodies.
Despite the criticism, Santa Cruz did mention recently that a fight with Abner Mares is likely to happen in May, but also mentioned that a fight with WBA and WBO champion Guillermo Rigondeaux would not be an interesting fight for fans.
“A lot of people don’t like his style and I don’t think it’s going to make an interesting fight for the fans,” Santa Cruz told Fight Hub TV in a recent interview.
Rigondeaux, perhaps taking note of this, scored an exciting KO victory in Japan earlier today in which he broke his opponents’ jaw.
Could a fight with Rigondeaux actually happen next year? Or does a fight with Mares at the Staples Center make more sense?
