Leo Santa Cruz is no stranger to moving up in weights and collecting belts.
After winning titles at 118, 122 and 126 pounds, Santa Cruz will make a push to join the list of less than two dozen boxers to win belts in at least four different weight classes. That attempt will have him fight Miguel Flores on November 23 for the vacant WBA "Super" super featherweight title on the PPV card of Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz II.
It's an interesting journey for Santa Cruz and Flores to fight for the vacant 130-pound title. Santa Cruz and Flores were originally supposed to fight in February for Santa Cruz's WBA "Regular" featherweight title, but the fight was scrapped as Flores suffered an injury weeks later. Now, the two will finally get to face each other on pay-per-view at a new weight class.
As for what he stands to benefit for the fight being at 130 pounds, Santa Cruz hopes that he is able to have more power in his hands when it comes to fight time. Santa Cruz said not much has changed from past training camps, but is happy that he's looking forward to not having to cut down as much weight as he's done in the past.
"So what made me change to 130 is that I have to work more on my power. I have to work for the power punches. Being at this weight will help me bring more power into sparring and into the fight, because I won’t be as focused on cutting weight. I've been sparring with guys that weigh 140. That way when I go out there against the strongest 130-pound fighters, I'll still win the same and there won't be any surprises," Santa Cruz told Fightful in a recent media call.
For months, talks of a potential featherweight unification bout against WBC champion Gary Russell Jr. or a super featherweight bout against two-time world champion Gervonta Davis for Santa Cruz had been running rampant with no end in sight. The title that Santa Cruz is fighting for is actually the one that Davis vacated weeks prior to the fight's announcement, but regardless of what the future holds for him, Santa Cruz still wants those fights against Davis and Russell.
"My dream was to be a four division world champion. I wanted to win the title so when I retire, I’m remembered as one of the only fighters that wins a fourth title, in four divisions. Not a lot of people do that. So, that was my dream. I have the opportunity. So I'm going to go for it and hopefully everything goes good. People ask me, and I say, I don’t know what’s going to happen that day on November 23. But if I win, I want the big fights. I want to get Gervonta Davis, Gary Russell Jr. and I want the big name that people will want me to fight," Santa Cruz said.
Santa Cruz vs. Flores for the WBA "Super" super featherweight title will take place on November 23 PBC on FOX pay-per-view from Las Vegas.
