Leo Santa Cruz?s fair-to-middling performance in his super-bantamweight bout Saturday was obscured by the heavyweight title fight that followed, which, by the way, earned Showtime its highest ratings in years.
Santa Cruz stopped journeyman Jesus Ruiz in the eighth round of their bout preceding Deontay Wilder?s heavyweight win. But Ruiz nearly matched blows with Santa Cruz during the first six rounds, and Ruiz seemed less than stunned by Santa Cruz?s power and quickness until Leo wore him down in the seventh and finished him in the eighth.
It raised doubts that Santa Cruz can hang with Guillermo Rigondeaux or match power with the beefed up version of Abner Mares. Santa Cruz is calling out both fighters.
He is not calling out Nonito Donaire at this stage, even though Donaire has held world title belts recently at both 122 and 126.
But I?d say Donaire, even with diminished quickness, can hang with Santa Cruz, whose physical dimensions would come as a relief in the wake of Donaire?s overwhelming loss to Nicholas Walters last October.
Although Donaire is fighting a tuneup March 28 in the Philippines against a still-undesignated opponent, Rigondeaux is the man Donaire must beat to untarnish his legacy. But Santa Cruz is high on the list of opponents against whom Donaire could regain much of his lost prestige. Let?s hope not everyone overlooks how attractive that match could become.
