Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares
After years of rumors and trash talking a fight between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares is finally happening. The fight will be on Saturday night and will air on ESPN as part of a PBC card. The fight should be full of action and it will be an important fight for the careers of both fighters. For Santa Cruz it marks his first serious fight after a string of low level opponents. For Mares it will the biggest fight of his comeback after being knocked out by Jhonny Gonzalez in 2013. This fight will also be a battle of Southern California where both fighters live so the atmosphere inside the Staples Center should be electric.
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| Santa Cruz has not looked great as of late |
Simply put, Santa Cruz is a talented offensive fighter out of the orthodox stance. His jab may be his best punch and his best attribute is his extremely high punch output. Along with the jab Santa Cruz also has an accurate straight right hand and a pretty solid left hook. All of those punches allow him to find success from the outside but he can also fight well from the pocket and likes to throw uppercuts when in close. While Santa Cruz isn't a one-punch knockout type fighter he can break an opponent down over the course of a fight and score the stoppage. What also helps make Santa Cruz so fun to watch is the fact that his defense isn't top shelf and he will take some punishment and because of that lack of defense he is vulnerable in the ring.
The big knock against Santa Cruz recently has been his opponent selection. Once Santa Cruz got to the top level he decided to take a number of easy fights and each fight made fans more annoyed. What made matters worse was the fact that Santa Cruz seemed to fight down to the level of his competition and did not look like a fighter who was on his way to stardom. Coming into Saturday night Santa Cruz has a record of 30-0-1 with 17 knockouts but Mares will be his first top shelf opponent in some time and Santa Cruz will need to fight better than he did his last time in the ring.
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| Mares is still on his way back from a brutal KO |
Mares should be the more aggressive fighter come Saturday night because that is his typical style. Mares is an orthodox fighter who likes to work behind a nice jab and he has no problem going toe-to-toe. The best weapon Mares has is his arsenal is his left hook but he also puts in good work with his right hand. Like Santa Cruz, Mares is very capable of getting a stoppage win but he does so through volume of punches and is not a one-punch knockout fighter. In recent fights Mares seemed to be more defensive minded but that strategy didn't really suit him that well and he has gone back to his aggressive, bang it out style that delights fans.
Mares was one of the top fighters in the sport before being brutally knocked out by Jhonny Gonzalez in the 1st round of their 2013 fight. Since that loss Mares has gone 3-0 and while he hasn't looked like the fighter he once was he is still dangerous to any opponent who enters the ring with him. That loss is really the only blemish for the career of Mares and he has put together a record of 29-1-1 with 15 knockouts. This will be the first top level fight for Mares since his knockout loss in 2013 and it should really tell how his career will look going forward.
One thing to take note of is the fact that Mares will be the bigger man on Saturday night. Mares has been fighting in the featherweight division for awhile now while Santa Cruz will be stepping up from the junior featherweight division. Santa Cruz will have the height advantage but he has always had a very thin frame, while Mares is built much more solidly. While many fans are looking ahead to fights between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux and Miguel Cotto against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez to decide the Fight of the Year, on candidate could appear on Saturday. Santa Cruz and Mares both like to bang it out and could put on a great show in front of what should be a raucous crowd.
PREDICTION: If Leo Santa Cruz can keep Abner Mares at the end of his jab he will win the fight. However, Mares does a nice job of getting inside and he will be able to do that against Santa Cruz and do enough damage to get the majority decision victory.
Hugo Ruiz vs. Julio Ceja
While many fans were probably expecting some bigger names for the co-feature of Saturday's fight, they won't be disappointed once the action starts. Saturday's co-feature will be a battle between two young, power punchers looking to make a statement. Those fighters are the 28-year-old Hugo Ruiz and the 22-year-old Julio Ceja and this will be the highest profile fight in front of U.S. fans for either pugilist. Also on the line on Saturday night will be a WBC interim World super bantamweight title.
Ruiz is an orthodox fighter with a solid jab and a hard left hook. Along with those weapons Ruiz has a very good right hand that he will let loose over the top or as a straight right. Surprisingly for a power puncher, which Ruiz is, he isn't overly aggressive. Instead he will often go long stretches where he fights off of his back foot and picks spots to plant his feet and let go with some heavy punches. Like many Mexican fighters Ruiz does a good job of attacking the body and he has a dangerous left hook to the liver. Yet it isn't just the left hook to the body that can do damage because Ruiz his legit power in both hands.
The career resume of Ruiz is filled with solid fighters but none whose name jumps out at you. He has had a nice career so far but he does lack a signature win. Ruiz only has two career losses but one of them was when he fought in Japan, the first time he ever fought outside of his native Mexico. Saturday marks the second time Ruiz will fight outside of Mexico and he hopes this time goes a bit better. For his career Ruiz has put together a record of 35-2 and he has a very strong 31 knockouts.
Ceja is also an orthodox fighter and he too has a ton of power. At such a young age Ceja has been very impressive. Ceja's offense has two speeds, at times he will throw slower punches with a ton of power behind them, then at other times he will throw quick combinations that don't land as heavy. Ceja does not have a very good jab but he does have a dangerous left hook and his right hand is just as good. The biggest contrast between Ceja and Ruiz is aggressiveness. While Ruiz will often fight in retreat, Ceja is ultra aggressive and loves to stand and trade on the inside.
In his most recent fights Ceja has taken on average opponents but none that would considered great. However, during his career he has faced some notable opponents like Jamie McDonnell who represents Ceja's only career loss. Outside of that lone loss Ceja has been perfect and holds a record of 29-1 with an unreal 26 knockouts.
All you really need to know about this fight is that it is going to be a slugfest, much like the main event except with fighters whose skill level isn't as high. Ruiz will probably be the one who fights in a more conservative style and he will look to stick and move until he can get Ceja to fall into a trap and unleash his power punches. Meanwhile, Ceja will probably go right at Ruiz and never let up. This is a toss-up fight and it is also a fight that should be the perfect appetizer for what could be a great main event.
PREDICTION: There is a good chance that this fight doesn't go the distance and both Hugo Ruiz or Julio Ceja could come out on top. However, Ceja has a more relentless style and that will come in handy in a close fight. There will be good back and forth action but Ceja will eventually win it via 10th round stoppage.
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| This will be Ruiz's first fight of 2015 |
The career resume of Ruiz is filled with solid fighters but none whose name jumps out at you. He has had a nice career so far but he does lack a signature win. Ruiz only has two career losses but one of them was when he fought in Japan, the first time he ever fought outside of his native Mexico. Saturday marks the second time Ruiz will fight outside of Mexico and he hopes this time goes a bit better. For his career Ruiz has put together a record of 35-2 and he has a very strong 31 knockouts.
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| Ceja only has one career loss |
In his most recent fights Ceja has taken on average opponents but none that would considered great. However, during his career he has faced some notable opponents like Jamie McDonnell who represents Ceja's only career loss. Outside of that lone loss Ceja has been perfect and holds a record of 29-1 with an unreal 26 knockouts.
All you really need to know about this fight is that it is going to be a slugfest, much like the main event except with fighters whose skill level isn't as high. Ruiz will probably be the one who fights in a more conservative style and he will look to stick and move until he can get Ceja to fall into a trap and unleash his power punches. Meanwhile, Ceja will probably go right at Ruiz and never let up. This is a toss-up fight and it is also a fight that should be the perfect appetizer for what could be a great main event.
PREDICTION: There is a good chance that this fight doesn't go the distance and both Hugo Ruiz or Julio Ceja could come out on top. However, Ceja has a more relentless style and that will come in handy in a close fight. There will be good back and forth action but Ceja will eventually win it via 10th round stoppage.
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