Leo Santa Cruz Beats Abner Mares for Featherweight Title

By Francisco Romero. –  In what has turned out to be the best fight of the year so far Leo Santa Cruz beat Abner Mares for the World Boxing Association Featherweight title.

The fight took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California in front of more that 13 thousand fans.

It was a battle for the bragging rights of L.A., as both fighters emigrated from Mexico and have made their homes in Southern California.

Right from the beginning it was a slugfest.  Mares went after Santa Cruz in the first round without hesitation.

It seemed like both fighters wanted to finish the fight by the way of knockout, but it went the distance.

After 12 rounds Santa Cruz won by majority decision. 

Mares was not happy with the outcome, “I started strong, I felt very good but my corner told me to slow down a bit.  I don’t know why, but my corner told me, Abner you started very fast, slow down and start boxing and I followed orders.”

The strategy for Santa Cruz was a bit different, “We didn’t get desperate, we did everything in a good pace, we let him get tired and we knew that eventually we would get to him,” Santa Cruz told ESPN Deportes after the fight.

The eight round of the fight was one that witnessed and intense exchange of punches between the fighters.

“I started boxing well, but I let him get in the fight. It was my mistake, I made that mistake, but I still thought that it was a close fight.  The result was not fair, but it was a close fight,” said Mares during his interview with ESPN Deportes.

Santa Cruz was not only pleased by his victory, but by the way he was able to execute his plan, “My jab and my right punch were working very well and with the one-two punches we knew we could beat him and that is exactly what we did.”

Santa Cruz remains unbeaten with a record of 31-0-1, 17 KO’s, while Mares record stands now at 29-2-1, 15 KO’s.