By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta Davis of Baltimore, Maryland will be taking on WBA Junior Lightweight Champ Leo Santa Cruz of Mexico at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas this Saturday, Oct. 31st. The 12-round clash can be seen live in America on Showtime pay-per-view. Davis last fought in December when he stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa in the 12th round for the vacant WBA Lightweight Belt while Santa Cruz beat Miguel Flores by unanimous decision in November to win the vacant WBA Jr. Lightweight Title.
The 25-year-old Davis was a 2012 National Golden Gloves Champion as an amateur and enters the fight with a perfect mark of 23-0 along with 22 big Kos. He’s fought just 79 rounds since turning pro back in 2013 due to his tremendous punching power and his knockouts over Ricardo Nunez, Jesus Cuellar, Hugo Ruiz, Jose Pedraza and Liam Walsh were exceptional. The southpaw has the talent and power to be a long-reigning champion.
Davis currently has a knockout ratio of 95.7 per cent with the only opponent to take him the distance as a pro being German Meraz when the pair went six rounds back in 2014. However, Davis still managed to drop him in both the third and fifth rounds. Davis stopped Pedraza in the seventh round for the IBF Super Featherweight Title in January of 2017 and then defended it four months later in England when he stopped Walsh in the third round.
Davis’ first title reign came to an end in August, 2017 against Francesco Fonseca though when he failed to make weight. However, he stopped Fonseca in the eighth round. He then won the WBA version against Cuellar in April 2018 and defended it against Ruiz and Nunez. Davis stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall and has a reach of 67.5 inches. He’s obviously got a lot of dynamite in his fists, but his chin hasn’t really been tested as of yet.
The 32-year-old Santa Cruz, who fights out of the Los Angeles area, has an impressive record of 37-1-1 along with 19 Kos. He’s also won world bantamweight and junior featherweight titles since turning pro but decided to move up in weight and captured the vacant WBA Super World Featherweight Belt when he beat Abner Mares by majority decision in 2015. Santa Cruz stands just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 69-inch reach. This gives him a two-inch edge in height over Davis with a 1.5-inch reach advantage.
Santa Cruz is more of a volume puncher than a power puncher with a current knockout ratio of 48.7 per cent. He made his pro debut in 2006 and has boxed 261 rounds since. His biggest wins have been against Mares (twice), Carl Frampton, Kiko Martinez, Cristian Mijares, Victor Terrazas and Eric Morel. Santa Cruz’s lone draw was a four-rounder against Rodrigo Hernandez in 2007 and his lone defeat came at the hands of Frampton via a majority decision in their first meeting in 2016.
Santa Cruz then regained his crown via a majority decision over Frampton six months later. He isn’t averse to going toe-to-toe with his opponents as he also owns a pretty solid chin to go along with his boxing skills. However, he’s won most of his fights due to his relentless punching output. He likes to work inside and trade shots even when he has the advantage in height and reach.
Prediction…
Davis struggled mightily against Gamboa but he’s got the advantage of meeting Santa Cruz who’s fighting as a 130 lb junior lightweight here for just the second time. In fact, weight could be a big factor as Davis needs to drop five pounds and already has a history of coming in over weight. Davis has a decided edge in power but Santa Cruz is quick on his feet and fast of hand. If Davis can’t catch Santa Cruz with something solid it’s going to be along night for him as he could be outworked. This is a tough call as it’s natural to gravitate to the younger and harder hitting Davis, but Santa Cruz could simply outwork him as long as his chin holds out. This could go either way and a draw is realistic too. However, I’ll go with Santa Cruz as I have a feeling he’ll be too busy for Davis. .
