If the television ratings reflect the enthusiasm contained in Staples Center for Leo Santa Cruz’s majority-decision victory Saturday night over Abner Mares, there may be no better option than for the two Southland boxers to fight again, sooner rather than later.
Mares wants a second crack and Santa Cruz said he’d give him one, but off to the side of the post-fight news conference stage late Saturday, Santa Cruz’s father and trainer, Jose Santa Cruz, said he prefers moving on to other challenges.
“I didn’t like the way Mares fought,” Jose Santa Cruz said in reference to the former three-division world champion’s behind-the-head punches and borderline below-the-belt deliveries seen early in the bout.