Who won Santa Cruz vs Mares II?

Leo Santa Cruz beat Abner Mares by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday 9th June 2018 at Staples Center in LA.

The scorecards were announced as 117-111, 116-112, 115-113 in favor of winner Leo Santa Cruz.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Featherweight division, which meant the weight limit was 126 pounds (9 stone or 57.1 KG).

This contest was for the vacant WBA featherweight championship of the world.

The undercard featured the clash of Charlo vs Trout for the WBC World Super Welterweight championship.

Santa Cruz vs Mares II stats

Leo Santa Cruz stepped into the ring with a record of 34 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw, 19 of those wins coming by the way of knock out.

Abner Mares made his way to the ring with a record of 31 wins, 2 loses and 1 draw, with 15 of those wins by knock out.

The stats suggested Santa Cruz had a slight advantage in power over Mares, with a 56% knock out percentage over Mares' 48%.

Leo Santa Cruz was the younger man by 3 years, at 34 years old.

Santa Cruz had a height advantage of 2 inches over Mares. That also extended to a 3-inch reach advantage.

Both Leo Santa Cruz & Abner Mares fought out of an orthodox stance.

Santa Cruz was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 2 more fights, and made his debut in 2006, 1 year and 9 months later than Mares, whose first professional fight was in 2005. He had fought 7 less professional rounds, 277 to Mares' 284.

Santa Cruz vs Mares II form

Santa Cruz had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Chris Avalos on 14th October 2017 by technical knockout in the 8th round in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at StubHub Center, Carson, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Carl Frampton on 28th January 2017 by majority decision in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Carl Frampton on 30th July 2016 by majority decision in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at Barclays Center, New York.

Before that, he had beat Kiko Martinez on 27th February 2016 by technical knockout in the 5th round in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at Honda Center, Anaheim.

He had defeated Abner Mares on 29th August 2015 by majority decision in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at Staples Center, LA.

Activity check

Santa Cruz's last 5 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 7 months and 2 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 6 months and 8 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 49 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 9.8 rounds on average.

What time did Santa Cruz vs Mares II start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 11:00 PM EST / 8:00 PM PST at Staples Center, LA, United States, which was around 4:00 AM BST in the UK.

Who broadcast Santa Cruz vs Mares II?

Santa Cruz vs Mares II was broadcast on ShowTime in the US.

What were the odds on Santa Cruz vs Mares II?

Leo Santa Cruz was a 1/4 (-400) favourite going into the contest, while Abner Mares made his way into the ring at 3/1 (+300) with oddsmakers.