Leo Santa Cruz takes care of business against Rafael Rivera with unanimous decision

Mark Ortega

Leo Santa Cruz takes care of business against Rafael Rivera with unanimous decision image

LOS ANGELES — Leo Santa Cruz got the tune-up out of the way, and he hopes 2019 will be the year he steps things up.

Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 KOs) outboxed a game, but outclassed Rafael Rivera (26-3-2, 17 KOs) over 12 lopsided — yet entertaining — rounds at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night. Scores were 119-109 across the board in favor of Santa Cruz.

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Prior to the bout, Santa Cruz said he wants to unify at 126 pounds against Gary Russell Jr. or Josh Warrington, and if that isn't doable, move up to 130 pounds and pick up a belt in his fourth weight class.

Santa Cruz hasn't faced an A-level fighter since regaining his featherweight title against Carl Frampton in January 2017. The fights are out there to be made to solidfy himself as one of the sport's best pound-for-pound, and fans are apathetic to seeing him against unheralded opponents any longer.

"I want the best, I want to unify the belt against anybody," Santa Cruz told FOX's Heidi Androl in the ring after the fight. "I want to fight any of the champions at featherweight or a third fight with Carl Frampton. I want to be back this summer and fight three times this year against the best in the division."

Rivera came at Santa Cruz unlike most 100-to-1 underdogs. He traded with Santa Cruz and sometimes got the better of him, but was mostly outworked over the duration. Santa Cruz was just a couple levels above what Rivera is capable of doing, mixing in shorter punches in between Rivera's loopier shots, Santa Cruz also proved that he can tighten up his defense, not throwing caution to the wind as he usually does, catching many of Rivera's best shots on his gloves.

The fight was entertaining from beginning to end, and Santa Cruz and Rivera ended the fight trading massive shots in center ring, bringing the crowd to their feet.

 

 

Even when Santa Cruz blows guys out, it's entertaining action to watch.

That's the sort of thing he needed to work on if he's going to be ready for a fighter the caliber of Russell Jr., or especially Gervonta Davis if a move to 130 pounds is in the cards over the next 12 months. People are tired of seeing Santa Cruz fight once every eight to 12 months, and he's poised to finally fight three times in a year for the first time since 2015.

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In the co-feature bout, Omar Figueroa Jr (28-0-1, 19 KOs) outlasted John Molina (30-8, 24 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout that was initially supposed to take place at the 140-pound junior welterweight limit. Figueroa earned a unanimous decision by scores of 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93. The fight seemed closer than the scorecaards indicated.

For the third time attempting to make the junior welterweight limit, Figueroa came in heavy, and this time the PBC renegotiated the contract the morning of the weigh-in for 146 pounds. At this point, Figueroa should just accept the fact that if he's going to fight on, it has to be at welterweight. You could tell afterwards that Molina was frustrated by the circus regarding the weight and if you're a future opponent of Figueroa, you got to be weary of signing a contract to fight the guy.

"I thought it was a good fight," Figueroa said. "We came out and did what we wanted to do. Unfortunately I hurt my hand, so I started to slow down a little bit after the third round. I know I could have hurt him if I really pressed the action, but I didn't want to make the hand any worse."

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Even though Figueroa doesn't seem to take boxing as seriously as most, he proved he's the same hard-nosed fighter that's capable of partaking in Fight of the Year candidates. When Molina landed his best overhand rights, Figueroa sometimes buckled, but always came back with a smile on his face. Molina looked very much the 36-year-old fighter he is and against a better- conditioned fighter, he might have been knocked out. Molina has been a solid gatekeeper over the course of his career, but should probably pack it in at this point.

Figueroa broke Molina down with body punches, outlanding him to the midsection at a 56-to-21 margin. That sapped the power from Molina's shots in the late rounds, where he was hoping to score yet another come-from-behind knockout.

The opening televised bout saw unbeaten super welterweight Sebastian Fundora (12-0, 8 KOs) score a third-round knockout of unheralded, but unbeaten 30-year-old Donnie Marshall (10-1, 6 KOs). An uppercut put Marshall on the canvas early in the round and a follow-up barrage near the ropes brought the fight to an end.

Mark Ortega