Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana 2: Fight Card Highlights and Analysis

Saturday's true main boxing attraction will be the rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but there are a number of fighters battling in the ring before then.

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times' Lance Pugmire, the top fight on the Mayweather-Maidana undercard is a showdown between Leo Santa Cruz and Manuel Roman. This marks the third defense of Santa Cruz's WBC Super Bantamweight title.

Mayweather himself tweeted all the undercard fights:

Check out the odds for each undercard bout, courtesy of OddsShark.com:

Matchup	Odds
Leo Santa Cruz vs. Manuel Roman	Santa Cruz (-10000); Roman (+1600)
Miguel Vasquez vs. Mickey Bey	Vasquez (-340); Bey (+260)
Alfredo Angulo vs. James De La Rosa	Angulo (-420); De La Rosa (+300)
John Molina Jr vs. Humberto Soto	Molina (-210); Soto (+160)

Santa Cruz is 27-0-1 and is taking on a relatively unheralded opponent in Roman, whose lack of initiation to this big stage may be a detriment. Per ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, it appears Santa Cruz, nicknamed "Terremoto," is confident in his ability to excel on this massive platform:

"

This is my second time fighting on a Floyd Mayweather pay-per-view undercard and I know that there is no bigger stage than this. Manuel Roman is a tough customer. I know he's going to come prepared and try to take my title. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain, but I plan on leaving the ring with my hand raised.

"

Golden Boy Promotions documented what Roman had to say about the impending bout, where he seemed to recognize the benefits of his underdog status:

That may not be the most competitive fight on the undercard, but Santa Cruz's continued efforts at age 26 to remain supreme with his World Boxing Council title will be a prominent storyline.

If Santa Cruz is a prohibitive favorite, Miguel Vazquez should be regarded as just as much of a mismatch when he squares off with Mickey Bey.

Vasquez will be defending his lightweight title for the sixth time; his only losses came to Timothy Bradley in 2007 and Canelo Alvarez in 2008 and in his professional debut in 2006. Bradley has fought the likes of Manny Pacquiao, while Alvarez lost to Mayweather via majority decision in September 2013.

Perhaps the 27-year-old Vasquez can take a big step by defending his title and working his way up on the billing in his upcoming bouts.

However, his methodical style has drawn criticism and isn't the most exciting, so fans in Las Vegas may wind up siding with Bey. Rafael wrote an unflattering evaluation of Vasquez in his rankings from August 12, where ESPN.com had Vasquez slotted at No. 2 in its lightweight rankings:

"

Mexico's Vazquez made a mandatory defense against Russia's previously undefeated Denis Shafikov on Feb. 22 in Macau and did what he always does: Run, grab, flick punches, grab some more and generally stink Shafikov out in a horrible fight. Vazquez, who won a clear decision to retain his title for the sixth time, is a hard guy to beat, but with that miserable style, he's an even harder guy to watch. But his signing with adviser Al Haymon probably means he will find his way back onto TV because of Haymon's juice.

"

Alfredo Angulo is treading into unfamiliar territory in his maiden middleweight bout versus James De La Rosa. It is interesting that Angulo is making the step up after losing his previous two fights via TKO, with the most recent coming at the hands of Alvarez.

But De La Rosa is making his first professional appearance in the ring since last year, when he lost to Marcus Willis in an eight-round majority decision, and then tested positive for a banned diuretic. It cost him a seven-month suspension.

With a 21-2 career record, he is going to face a foe in Angulo coming off an encounter with a high-quality adversary. That does not bode well for his comeback effort.

Eric Jamison/Associated Press

John Molina Jr. and Humberto Soto won't have their fight televised on pay-per-view. The 31-year-old American in Molina (27-4) will take on Soto (64-8-2), who's just three years Molina's senior yet has more than double the experience under his belt.

So there are a number of lopsided matchups on the undercard. In fact, it could even be argued that every bout has a clear favorite to win. However, the bright lights of such a massive boxing spectacle and the pressure that comes with them ought to level the playing field a bit.

The underdogs can make like Roman, who's unafraid to be aggressive and apply the pressure to Santa Cruz. By night's end, all the focus will be on Mayweather's continued pursuit of perfection and whether Maidana can derail it. Nevertheless, the greatness De La Rosa and Vasquez will likely achieve by preserving their status as champions should be celebrated as well—and lead to bigger, better opportunities in the future.