Home Fight Results Leo Santa Cruz defeats Abner Mares by majority decision

Leo Santa Cruz defeats Abner Mares by majority decision

Leo Santa Cru
Photo Credit: Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

Julio Cesar Ceja (29-1, 26KO), tasted the canvas in the third round only to score a fifth round knockout over Hugo Ruiz (35-3, 30KO). Ruiz got caught with a big shot, fell hard and was never able to recover as Ceja seen that he had his opponent hurt and let his hands go which led the referee to stop the fight at 2:34 of the fifth round.

Undefeated lightweight Alejandro Luna (19-0, 14KO) scored a fourth round knockout over Sergio Lopez (18-10-1, 12KO). Lopez got hit with a barrage of punches while against the ropes. Noticing that he was almost out on his feet, the referee had decided that he had seen enough and stopped the fight at 0:34 of the fourth round. This had to be the moment when the crowd realized that they were in for a treat seeing great action packed undercard fights and the main event coming up next.

In the main event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California the latest installment of Premier Boxing Champions broadcasted on ESPN, undefeated Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KOs) won a twelve round majority decision over Abner Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs). It was an all out war as Mares came out very aggressive in the early rounds. Santa Cruz proved that he was not going to be pushed around by the shorter Mares and began to used his height and reach to his advantage. Santa Cruz landed more shots and looked as if he was wearing mares down as the fight progressed into the later rounds. This was definitely a fight of the year candidate because both fighters gave the packed crowd at the Staples Center their money’s worth.

After twelve rounds the judges scores were 117-111, 117-111 and 114-114 in favor of a majority decision for Santa Cruz. He is now the WBA “Super” Featherweight Champion. In the post fight interviews both Santa Cruz and Mares stated that they were open to a rematch. I’m pretty sure that no one will protest them two fighters meeting in the ring again sometime in the near future because it was a slugfest to be remembered for a very long time.