By Jake Donovan
From the moment event handlers were able to nail down a long-awaited showdown between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares, staging the fight in the Southern California area became a no-brainer. Both fighters were born and raised in Mexico, but now live and train out of the Los Angeles area.
As the fight was announced to take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles (Saturday, Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN, 10:00 p.m. ET), attention quickly turned to which way the crowd would lean, given both fighters' ties to the communities.
Admittedly, even the fighters aren't entirely certain who will walk in as the crowd favorite on fight night. It's a fitting scenario, since most experts view the featherweight clash as a true pick-'em matchup.
"I think it will be 50/50," Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17KOs) said of the potential fanbase. "They'll probably be (arguing) with each other all night, as boxing fans love to get involved. We’re excited that the fans are showing us so much love and we’re here to give them a great fight."
The bout marks Santa Cruz' first true fight as a featherweight, having previously served as champ at bantamweight and super bantamweight. His last fight came at a 124 lb. catchweight limit, scoring a 10-round decision over Jose Cayetano this past May in Las Vegas.
Mares (29-1-1, 15KOs) has been at featherweight since 2013, when he stopped Daniel Ponce de Leon in nine rounds to win his third championship in as many weight classes. The 27-year old—who represented Mexico as an 18-year old amateur in the 2004 Athens Olympics—has previousy enjoyed title reigns at bantamweight and super bantamweight before moving up in weight.
His win over Ponce de Leon added to his incredible run against top-shelf competition dating back to a May '10 draw with then-bantamweight champ Yhonny Perez, but Mares' world came crashing down in a 1st round knockout loss to Jhonny Gonzalez in Aug. '13.
Three wins have since followed, but there remains a question as to whether Mares can turn it back on and compete at the elite level.
That—and not crowd support—remains his primary task at hand come Saturday evening.
"I’m not worried if the crowd is 50% for me and 50% for him or whatever the split is," Mares admitted during Thursday's pre-fight press conference. "I’m just in this to make everyone believers. I’m just excited."
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene