Ranking the Best Opponents for Leo Santa Cruz's Next Fight
It's detour time, at least temporarily, for Leo Santa Cruz.
Though the previously unbeaten featherweight title-holder went into his Saturday night defense against Carl Frampton with designs on heavier prey, the surprising loss hung on him by the road-tripping Northern Irishman will surely prompt a change in plans.
Frampton wrested away Santa Cruz's WBA featherweight world title with a majority decision at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. He captured nine and eight of the rounds on two of the official scorecards, while the third scored it even at six rounds apiece.
Bleacher Report agreed with the dissenting judge and had it 114-114—six rounds to six.
Not surprisingly, the now-former champion respectfully disagreed with the verdict, too.
“It was a good tough fight. I thought it was a pretty close,” Santa Cruz told Showtime's Jim Gray. “Every little punch he threw people cheered for him and maybe the judges saw that.”
The upset loss stalls Santa Cruz's quest for myriad big fights in a new weight class, though they still seem attainable if he's able to get a chance to reverse Saturday's result and is successful doing so.
Of course, even if that occurs, several of the would-be fights remain iffy thanks to the ever-present promotional issues from athlete to athlete.
So with those as pre-list grains of salt, we put together our collection of the six we'd most like to see regardless of all obstacles. If we're lucky, maybe at least some of these fights can get made.
Feel free to leave your views in the comments section.
6. Gary Russell Jr.
1 of 6
Gary Russell Jr. completed one of the sport's most marked resurrections over the course of nine months from June 2014 to March 2015. He initially lost a wide decision to Vasyl Lomachenko for the vacant WBO featherweight title before rebounding to wrest the WBC's 126-pound belt from Jhonny Gonzalez.
The convincing loss to Lomachenko in the Ukrainian's third pro fight left many describing Russell as an over-hyped and over-protected prospect. But the workmanlike destruction of Gonzalez—who was defending the belt he'd taken from Abner Mares—got him back into the sport's good graces.
He's defended once since, with an impressive two-round blowout of Irishman Patrick Hyland.
The WBC championship surely remains an attractive lure for Santa Cruz, and the fact that both he and Russell are part of the Al Haymon camp means it's a fight that can happen if everyone wants it.
There are other 126-pound champions out there, but if Santa Cruz seeks to add a different bauble before making another weight class move and fight a widely recognized foe while do so, Russell makes the most sense.
5. Orlando Salido
2 of 6
Orlando Salido has had seven fights since the start of 2013 and won just three. So one might assume he'd be a mere speed bump if Santa Cruz sets his eyes on a new environment at 130 pounds.
One would be wrong.
Though the calendar suggests Siri is 35 and the mileage on his tires implies perhaps another year or two beyond that, there's little doubt he remains as rugged a 14-loss test as the sport can offer a wannabe star.
Consecutive stoppages of Juan Manuel Lopez in 2011 and 2012 effectively ruined the previously unbeaten Puerto Rican, and, lest anyone forget, it was also Salido who stole Vasyl Lomachenko's "0" in the Ukrainian's second pro fight in March 2014.
Six months later, he rose from the canvas three times on the way to beating Terdsak Kokietgym in a bout Yahoo Sports labeled as that year's best, and his 12-round draw with Francisco Vargas last month in California has already been deemed a "clear leader" for 2016's best by ESPN.com.
The prospect of two native Mexican action fighters squaring off is a natural for the marquee in Los Angeles, and if Santa Cruz is looking for someone to engage him at 130 rather than elude him, he won't find a better foil.
4. Nicholas Walters
3 of 6
For a time, Nicholas Walters was a featherweight phenomenon.
He earned a second-tier WBA title and defended in relative anonymity in 2012 and 2013, before bursting to the front of the 126-pound line the following year with routs of notables Vic Darchinyan and Nonito Donaire.
But then he surrendered his championship on the scale, got a questionable draw in a debut at 130 pounds and found himself on the outside looking in after turning his nose to a $550K offer to fight Vasyl Lomachenko.
"Did Walters hurt himself with us or HBO by turning the fight down? No," said Bob Arum, per BadLeftHook.com. "He didn't violate a contract or anything like that, so that's fine. But, again, I can't afford to pay these fighters appreciably more than I'm getting from the television, and that's what the television network felt the fight was worth."
If Santa Cruz indeed moves on to 130, another option presents itself.
After all, Walters has shown he can bang, and Santa Cruz seems programmed to fight only in come-forward mode and has now beaten multiple layers of top-shelf competition.
In fact, Santa Cruz mentioned Walters' name specifically in the run-up to his defeat of Abner Mares last August, though he couched the call-out with the cliched "my promoter calls the shots" script.
“It’s not up just to me,” he told Fight Hub TV (via MMA-Core.com). “It’s up to my whole team. They know what’s good for my career.”
Whether it's next remains to be seen, but whenever it happens this one would be better than good.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
3. Mikey Garcia
4 of 6
Two years ago, it wasn't hard to find people going wild about Mikey Garcia.
His defeat of Juan Carlos Burgos in January 2014 not only let him maintain a hold on the WBO's title at 130 pounds—his second weight class belt—but it also moved his record to 34-0 with 28 KOs and placed the then-26-year-old on the brink of superstardom.
And then he went away.
Promotional haggling and courtroom maneuvering ultimately stretched the layoff to 131 weeks before the Californian, now 28, returned for a fifth-round demolition of former 126-pound claimant Elio Rojas in the final appetizer to Santa Cruz's main course with Frampton on Saturday night.
And given the level of his performance as the opening act, it's only natural to want to see him headline.
But while Garcia has suggested he'll try to till ground at lightweight, the idea that he and Santa Cruz can get together at some point is not at all disqualified by their sizes or styles.
In fact, Garcia's height (5'7") and reach (68 inches) fall just short of Santa Cruz's 5'7-1/2" and 69 inches, and his smooth, counter-punching approach would be a natural blend with the Mexican's inclination to press the action and wear at his opponent's mettle.
"Mikey Garcia vs. Leo Santa Cruz is a terrific fight at 130, if Garcia can continue to make 130 pounds," Randy Gordon, host of “At The Fights" on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, told Bleacher Report. "I think it's an action-packed fight all the way."
2. Vasyl Lomachenko
5 of 6
Seven fights in and Vasyl Lomachenko is already a guy everybody wants.
Or, he's at least a guy they should want if they desire billing as the best of the lighter weights.
The Ukrainian bounced back from an iffy loss to Orlando Salido to win five straight fights, initially solidifying his hold on the WBO's featherweight title before establishing himself as the man through which all No. 1 claims in the 130-pound division must travel.
That latter fact alone makes him the most fan-desirable opponent for an ambitious Santa Cruz.
The two men appeared on the same stage as separate warm-up acts for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao last year in Las Vegas, but because they, too, are aligned with Bob Arum and Al Haymon, respectively, the idea that they'll share the ring is more fleeting than firm.
Lomachenko took a veiled shot at Santa Cruz's decision to leave Golden Boy and go all-in with Haymon, which seems—at least for the time being—to be a significant obstacle to the fight ever happening.
Nevertheless, it's a good thing to dream about.
"Boxing is a sport and a business, but to some people boxing is only a business," Lomachenko told Ring Magazine. "For me I can say it’s a sport. I love boxing for the sport of competing against the best. I want to fight the fighters who will challenge me. I have shown that I only want big fights. Unfortunately it’s not always possible. Other people just see this as a business."
1. Carl Frampton
6 of 6
Given Saturday's surprise results, it's first things first for Santa Cruz.
Carl Frampton moved when he needed to, flurried when he had to and stood his ground when it suited him en route to a narrow but fair decision in their Saturday night fight. The level of excitement provided across the 12 rounds left both winner and loser lobbying for a second go-round at a site to be determined.
Frampton told Showtime's Jim Gray that he'd "love" to get Santa Cruz to his Belfast, Northern Ireland home turf, while Santa Cruz initially lobbied for a rematch to be nearer his home base in Los Angeles before conceding to Gray that he'd not be against the idea of crossing the Atlantic to regain his laurels.
“It was a pretty close fight. Carl’s a great champion. He has a very difficult style,” Santa Cruz told Gray. “In the rematch we’ll get him a lot easier. It’s really hard, but we’ll go back to the gym, we’ll get the rematch and we’ll beat him.”
Big goals are nice, but unless he beats Frampton convincingly they'll always be accompanied by an asterisk.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
