As expected, Leo Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) defeated Miguel Flores (24-3, 12 KOs) via unanimous decision on November 23, 2019 at the MGM Grand Arena, in Las Vegas Nevada.
The victory saw Santa Cruz pick up a world title in his fourth weight division.
It was a well-timed moved by Santa Cruz as he won the championship that once belonged to Gervonta Davis before he moved up in weight.
No one ever believed that Santa Cruz would have any trouble with Flores. After all, it has been a borderline hall-of-fame level career for Santa Cruz up until this point.
Flores on the other hand, lost back-to-back fights via stoppage back in 2017.
Things started off in typical Santa Cruz fashion. He came forward and through tons of punches while Flores did his best to stay out of the way. The contest remained some what competitive until the later rounds, particularly in the eighth.
Referee Tony Weeks warned Flores for leading with his head. He was later forced to take a point away in the eighth. There were numerous times throughout the contest in which Flores tried a few rough tactics to get Santa Cruz off his game, but that was to no avail.
After 12 pretty one sided rounds, Santa Cruz won the contest. One judge scored the bout 115-112 while the two remaining judges had it 117-110 for Santa Cruz.
Final Grade For Leo Santa Cruz: A
It was a typical performance for Santa Cruz. The amount of punches that he throws in a contest are outrageous and he had it on full display again.
His opponent wasn’t a world beater by any stretch of the imagination so it is hard to tell how he would perform against the elite of the division, but for now everyone should keep an eye on him.
