When news broke of WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz’s contract with Golden Boy Promotions being bought out by Al Haymon, it caught most off guard as talks of a unification bout with Santa Cruz and Guillermo Rigondeaux were starting to heat up.
Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya shed some light on the subject and claims it wasn’t a voluntary act on his part.
“Let’s get one thing clear here, we didn’t choose to sell his contract,” De La Hoya said. “I started negotiating Leo Santa Cruz versus Rigondeaux and in the contract there was a buyout clause. So all of a sudden that buyout clause was enforced.”
Before you go denouncing the merit of De La Hoya’s claim since we haven’t heard from anyone from the Haymon camp, Santa Cruz himself backed up the Golden Boy’s claim in an interview with Boxing Scene.
“Haymon told me it wouldn’t be an interesting fight and none of the fans would be happy to see that fight,” Santa Cruz told Boxing Scene.
Despite what Haymon thinks, most fans would love to see Santa Cruz against Rigondeaux, despite those who worry the bout would be too boring.
With what has transpired, a possible Santa Cruz-Rigo bout may never come to fruition, which would be another case of two of the top fighters in a division not facing one another.
Santa Cruz did mention that a September showdown with Abner Mares (who is also under the Haymon umbrella) could be on the horizon, which would be a solid fight, if it takes place later this year.
Mares will first have to take care of business March 7 against the much unheralded Arturo Santos Reyes on the first installment of Haymon’s, Premier Boxing Champions. The bout will air either in prime time on NBC or on the fights that will be shown on NBC Sports following the main card live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
