LAS VEGAS – Leo Santa Cruz is displeased with how he fought in his 130-pound debut Saturday night.
The four-division champion convincingly beat Miguel Flores in their 12-round title bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Santa Cruz just wasn’t as active or sharp as usual while winning a unanimous decision on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz undercard.
“I’m not that happy with my performance,” Santa Cruz said during the post-fight press conference. “I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a statement, but my body didn’t feel – you know, I didn’t feel myself [Saturday night]. That’s it. I don’t like putting excuses, but there was something wrong with me.”
When pressed regarding whether he was injured before their bout began, Santa Cruz divulged that he became ill during the latter portion of his training camp. Santa Cruz didn’t consider withdrawing from a fight he was heavily favored to win, but his condition adversely affected the end of his training camp.
“I wasn’t injured,” Santa Cruz said. “I got a virus one week before I came to Vegas. Three days, I had chills. I had [a] fever. I had [a] cold. And that drained me. I went to a doctor. I got shots and everything because I wanted to feel a hundred percent. But when I got here, I still didn’t recover. … But like I said, I don’t like putting excuses. I didn’t wanna say nothing, but I had to.”
The 31-year-old Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs), of Rosemead, California, still out-pointed Houston’s Flores comfortably on two of the three judges’ scorecards. Tim Cheatham (115-112), Glenn Feldman (117-110) and Julie Lederman (117-110) each scored Santa Cruz a decisive victor over Flores (24-3, 12 KOs).
Santa Cruz captured the WBA “super” 130-pound title Gervonta Davis vacated when he moved up to the 135-pound division. Santa Cruz previously won world titles at bantamweight (118 pounds), super bantamweight (122) and featherweight (126).
“Being a four-division world champion, I’m excited,” Santa Cruz said. “It’s something since I was small I wanted to accomplish.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
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