Featherweight champions Leo "El Terremoto" Santa Cruz and Abner Mares are lined up to meet this weekend in a rematch of their 2015 title fight. This second matchup, for Santa Cruz's "super" title belt, is scheduled for Saturday, June 9, at Staples Center in Los Angeles (10 p.m. ET, Showtime).
Santa Cruz (34-1-1) won the first encounter by majority decision (114-114, 117-111, 117-111). He and fellow Mexico native Mares (31-2-1), the current "regular" champion, both suffered cuts from accidental head-butts in the bout.
SANTA CRUZ-MARES II: Date, start time, card
Santa Cruz will be making his second title defense since beating Carl Frampton of Northern Ireland for the "super" belt 18 months ago. Santa Cruz knocked out Chris Avalos in the eighth round last October.
Opta has compiled a list of facts and figures to get you ready for Santa Cruz-Mares II on June 9:
— Mares has only fought twice since losing to Santa Cruz in 2015, defeating Jesús Cuellar and Andrés Gutiérrez. Santa Cruz has been involved in four bouts during the same period; he suffered his first professional loss in that time, to Frampton.
— Eight of Santa Cruz’s last 14 bouts have been against fellow Mexicans; he is 8-0 in those outings, all of which have taken place in the United States.
— Both of Mares' career defeats have been to fellow Mexican fighters (Santa Cruz and Jhonny González).
— Five of Mares' last six fights have reached at least the 10th round; his fifth-round victory by retirement over Jose Ramirez in December 2014 was the lone exception.
— Mares (5-4 1/2) is 3 inches shorter than Santa Cruz (5-7 1/2) and had 3-inch reach disadvantage.
— Only 48 percent of Mares' victories have come by stoppage.
— Santa Cruz and Mares have each fought one previous rematch as professionals: Santa Cruz defeated Frampton, and Mares defeated Joseph Agbeko.
— Santa Cruz and Mares are both three-weight world champions --- they've also won belts at bantamweight and super bantamweight.
