ANAHEIM, Calif. – Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz defended his WBA Featherweight World Championship in convincing fashion on Saturday night, knocking down Kiko “Sensación” Martinez twice in the first round, then ending it on a barrage of punches as the fight was called at 2:09 in the fifth round in the main event of a SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz defended his WBA Featherweight World Championship in convincing fashion on Saturday night, knocking down Kiko “Sensación” Martinez twice in the first round, then ending it on a barrage of punches as the fight was called at 2:09 in the fifth round in the main event of a SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Leo Santa Cruz picked up the first defense of his featherweight title, stopping a game Kiko Martinez in five rounds Saturday evening at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Leo Santa Cruz not only throws--he lands. He has a +14.7 plus/minus rating, #3 among all champ. caliber fighters. He's in the top 5 in offensive punching categories, while opponents land just 24.3% of their total punches- 6.5% lower than CompuBox avg. 15.2 of Kiko Martinez's 18.7 landed punches (81%) are power shots, so he'll have to get close to do damage and pay a price in doing so. Martinez can be touched--opponents (Quigg, Frampton I & II, Hasegawa, Romero & Marchiano) landed 35.9% of their power shots.
LOS ANGELES - The weights are in, as former world champion Kiko "Sensacion" Martinez (35-6-0, 26 KOs) will challenge undefeated WBA Featherweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday, Feb. 27 live on SHOWTIME® (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET) from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. In the co-feature Mexican warrior Julio Ceja (30-1, 27 KOs) meets Hugo Ruiz 35-3, 31 KOs) in a long-awaited Super Bantamweight World Title rematch.
Unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz is looking for a "spectacular" display in his World Boxing Association featherweight title defence against Kiko Martinez on Saturday that could put him in line for a title unification bout.
ANAHEIM, CALIF. – Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz and Kiko “Sensacion” Martinez went face-to-face Thursday at the final press conference before their featherweight world title showdown on Saturday, Feb. 27 live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
LOS ANGELES - Former world champion Kiko "Sensacion" Martinez (35-6-0, 26 KOs) participated in a media workout Wednesday at the City of Angels Boxing Club in Los Angeles as he prepares to face undefeated WBA Featherweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday, Feb. 27 live on SHOWTIME(R) (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET) from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Kiko Martínez will enter Saturday's WBA featherweight world title fight against Leo Santa Cruz without the aid of his usual trainer Gabriel Sarmiento. The pair, who had based the majority of their training camp in the Canary Islands were prepared for this eventuality given Sarmiento's previous legal issues.
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - As long as we’re here, let's go ahead and blame it on Manny Pacquiao. Though, unlike other stories these days in which the Filipino politician plays the protagonist, this one touches neither on bald-faced homophobia nor maddeningly inconsistent damage control. This one, instead, has only to do with Pac Man’s penchant...