Leo Santa Cruz – Kiko Martinez Are Set to Battle in the O.C.

By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña

Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz, 31-0-1, 17 KO’s and Kiko “Sensacion” Martinez, 35-6, 26 KO’s went face-to face Thursday at the final press conference before their Featherweight World Title showdown on Saturday, February 27th from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Also in attendance Thursday was the WBC World Super Bantamweight Champion Julio “Pollito” Ceja, 30-1, 27 KO’s and Hugo “Cuatito” Ruiz, 35-3, 31 KO’s who will enter the ring in a Super Bantamweight world title rematch.

Santa Cruz who defeated Abner Mares in a fight dubbed “Battle Los Angeles” in August of 2015 at the Staples Center is living his dream. Growing up in Compton the Santa Cruz family lived in poverty, and Leo has used boxing as an outlet to help his family escape to a better life. “Headlining a televised card has been my childhood dream” said Leo. “I could have never imagined I was going to get this far. And Here I am, on my second main event, defending my title on a premium network. I’m so psyched. I cannot believe it.

The first time I put the gloves on, I knew that I had found my craft, and I also knew that it was not going to be an easy road. I knew that I had to work hard to become a champion. So, I trained the hardest and I fought the hardest, and with my father by my side I got here, where I’m at today. I owe him everything. I remember watching all the great Mexican Champions and daydreaming about being like them one day. It felt unreachable. I thought it was impossible to get where they were. But I worked hard, really hard from the beginning. The most important thing is that the fans leave happy and get their money’s worth. I’m glad that Kiko has come prepared because we’re ready for a great fight. People are saying that I should walk through Kiko Martinez, but I don’t listen to that. I look at Kiko the same way I look at any other opponent. When we step inside the ring, we are equals. At the end of the day, the winner will be the fighter who has prepared more and who has imposed his will on the other man”.

Kiko who is not new to tough fights is only fighting in the US for the second time and plans on bringing a war to Leo. “I have faced much stronger boxers than Leo and come Saturday, all of those who did bet on me for this fight, I am going to make you a lot of money. Said Martinez “I am excited and proud to know that Sergio Martinez will be present on Saturday supporting me. His guidance and presence. I know this is a great opportunity to fight Leo Santa Cruz and I will make the most of it. I’m going to leave everything inside the ring so that the fight fans enjoy a great championship matchup. I feel that Leo Santa Cruz is a great fighter, he has beat some incredible fighters. He’s a great athlete and boxer. Sometimes people will try to make him out to be more than he actually is, but they are mistaken with what they see in me. I am not to be mistaken as the underdog here”. Martinez who’s trainer had visa issues was unable to travel with the team, left Kiko scrambling for a back up trainer. Martinez chose to team up with famed trainer Robert Garcia. When asked about his trainer Kiko stated “My trainer could not be here, but we have not taken one day off in training camp and I have been pushed to my limit to prepare me for this fight. I’m thankful to Robert Garcia for being in my corner on Saturday.

Jose Santa Cruz, Leo’s father and trainer had this to say when asked about Leo’s former trainer Robert Garcia being in the corner of Kiko “I hear Kiko has a great trainer on his corner. Robert Garcia is really good, but I have news for Kiko, his trainer is not going to fight for him. Once a fighter steps into the ring, he’s alone in there. There are no trainers and no great promoters that can fight for him. Kiko speaks about this prestigious trainer and thinks that by mentioning him, he is going to intimidate us. He has something else coming. The trainer won’t fight for Kiko. Roberto Garcia has trained my son and knows Leo very well but that does not give Kiko the upper hand.”

Santa Cruz makes for great television. His 12-round, majority-decision win over Abner Mares in August for the vacant WBA title was a nonstop slugfest. According to CompuBox, the two boxers combined for 2,031 punches, landing 599 of them. With a win over Martinez hopefully Leo will call out names such as Gary Russell Jr. Vasyl Lomachenko, or Lee Selby Martinez on the other hand, although being a huge underdog has been in with some of the top boxers in the Super Bantamweight division including Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg and plans on using a victory over Leo to sling shot him back into the world boxing spotlight.

In the Co-main event and the fight I believe will steal the show Julio Ceja will battle Hugo Ruiz in a rematch. The first fight by these two heavy handed Mexican warriors was also the Co-main event for Leo Santa Cruz’ last fight. That night at the Staples Center these two gave a great blood and guts performance. Ceja won the WBC 122-pound world title by fifth-round stoppage in a wild back-and-forth brawl. Ruiz struck the first big blow in the 3rd round when he connected with a sharp left hand that floored Ceja. The fireworks continued into round five when Ceja unloaded a powerful left hook that put Ruiz on the mat. Ceja saw his opening and used a flurry of punches to close the show and take home the world title. “I’m very happy to fight again in Southern California on such a fantastic card,” said Ceja. “In the first fight with Hugo Ruiz we had a sensational battle which ended with me coming out victorious and I’m very confident that I will win again.”I’m going to give everybody a great fight just like last time. I’m walking into the ring knowing my opponent very well. We’ve been to war. I know what to expect from him. I know about his punch and I know how to counter it. I’m going to be alert and ready. I’ll be a little more intelligent, because I know that he’s coming well prepared and he’s coming for the world title, but he’s not going to get it.

Ruiz who had Ceja beat and felt he let the last fight get away from him stated, “Ceja came into the fight very aggressively and he put just the right amount of pressure on me, this defeat is behind me now. This is going to be another very explosive fight, said Ruiz”. “Expect a lot of punches, but this time I will be walking out a world champion.”

[si-contact-form form=’2′]