By Jake Donovan

For the second time in as many fights, Julio Ceja and Hugo Ruiz are once again tasked with priming the crowd for a show headlined by Leo Santa Cruz.

Given the stakes, they’ll gladly accept such assignment.

The pair of free-swinging sluggers from Mexico meet Saturday evening in a rematch to their condensed thriller last August, with Ceja’s super bantamweight title at stake Saturday evening at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The bout will air live on Showtime, serving as the chief support to Santa Cruz’ featherweight title defense versus former 122 lb. titlist Kiko Martinez.

Ruiz (35-3, 31KOs) thought for sure that he had his countryman right where he wanted him in their first fight last August. which was for an interim super bantamweight title with potential for an upgrade. Ceja was decked by a hard left hook (Ruiz doesn’t have it in him to throw a punch any other way) in round three and seemingly on the verge of coming up short in his second career title fight.

Had he he been able to close the show, Ruiz would've come up aces in his second crack at a full version of a title. A former interim champ, he landed on the wrong end of a debatable decision versus Koki Kameda in their Dec. '12 bantamweight title clash in Japan. 

Ceja's previous title shot ended in a similar experience, although there was little disputing his May ‘13 bantamweight title bid versus Jamie McDonnell in England.

Given their shared history, it was clear both fighters wanted a knockout win. The difference was, Ceja was able to recover from his knockdown to turn the tide. The 23-year old bomber swung momentum permanently in his favor, dropping and eventually stopping Ruiz in the fifth round of a fantastic slugfest that warranted a sequel.

Fans get just that on Saturday night. In the six months that have passed, Ceja was elevated to full titlist after Santa Cruz - upon his 12-round featherweight title win over Abner Mares on that same August show - opted to permanently remain at featherweight. 

Saturday night will mark the first defense of that title for Ceja. Can he repeat and remain champ, or will Ruiz find a way to finish what he started last time out?

Read on to see how the staff at BoxingScene.com believes the super bantamweight title action plays out in Anaheim.  

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: CEJA-RUIZ II

Rene Ricardo Bernal (Ceja TKO6): Ceja will be more dominant this time around. I believe Ceja will make the adjustments to avoid getting clipped by Ruiz and will be able to impose his tactical approach and place his punches better to hurt Ruiz.

Jake Donovan (Ceja TKO4): With both knowing they can hurt the other, I expect this one to jump off to an even quicker start. It could be another night where both fighters are forced to climb off the deck. It could be a night where whoever lands the first punch wins. Ceja is the more resourceful of the two, which should be enough to get the job done a little earlier this time

Michael Gibbons (Ruiz UD): Hoping for the same fireworks as the first bout but something tells me we will get another fight this time around.

Cliff Rold (Ceja TKO): He did it once. He'll do it again as Ceja continues to grow and improve. It should be fun while it lasts.

Reynaldo Sanchez (Ceja TKO 6-8): Another good fight. Julio Ceja is motivated and willing to validate his 2015 victory.

Shawn W. Smith (Ceja TKO): Ceja did it once, no reason to think he can't do it again.

Alexey Sukachev (Ceja TKO8): The first fight was nuts, and this one will be also cool. To me Ceja is a much better fighter and a bigger puncher and he looked worse than he could in their first fight. This time he will do better and stop Ruiz with more confidence.

Totals:
Ceja – 6
Ruiz - 1

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox