Rising Mexican star Leo Santa Cruz (27-0, 15 KOs) will be fighting on the big stage as the co-main event of the Floyd Mayweather versus Marcos Maidana Saturday, Sept. 13, when he puts his WBC super bantamweight title on the line against virtual unknown Manuel Roman (17-2-3, 6 KOs).
The is Santa Cruz’s first fight since he beat Cristian Mijares in March as the co-feature on the Canelo Alvarez-Alfredo Angulo card.
Picking Roman as his opponent is catching Santa Cruz a lot of flak, but he said he just wants to fight and he will fight anyone put in front of him.
At this point in his career Santa Cruz needs to step up his competition, in order for his star to continue growing. After fighting a solid boxer in Mijares his last fight out, Roman represents a big step backward, and if he continues to fight lesser opposition his career could stall out with big fights on the table.
Names like Guillermo Rigondeaux, Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg have been brought up as possible bouts for Santa Cruz and he admits that a bout with Quigg seems more likely to happen at this point.
Let’s hope that Santa Cruz’s next opponent is one of the aforementioned fighters, as he has a good head on his shoulders and deserves to be one of the sports rising stars, as long as he fights fighters he belongs in the ring with.
