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Terrazas vs Santa Cruz: Picks and predictions from the BLH staff

Victor Terrazas defends the WBC super bantamweight title tomorrow night against Leo Santa Cruz. Does the young star continue to rise, or will Terrazas slam the brakes on the hype train?

Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

Ryan Bivins

Terrazas has struggled pretty bad in his last 2 fights and was nearly knocked out by a faded Cristian Mijares. What the hell do you think Santa Cruz is going to do? They say Leo hasn't really beat anybody but his win over Stephane Jamoye is criminally underrated. Terrazas isn't winning on experience. Santa Cruz TKO-8.

Scott Christ

I like Leo Santa Cruz a lot, but he has some limitations. He's not much of a puncher, I don't think, and his volume while incredible can be countered. His rise on Showtime has been fun to watch, but those wins were all over mediocre fighters, or guys who were good years ago but, you know, aren't now, like Alexander Munoz and Eric Morel. As Ryan mentioned, his best win is really over Stephane Jamoye, pre-Showtime. Terrazas is hardly a special fighter, but he's better than the guys that Santa Cruz has been beating for the last year and change. I expect this to be competitive for a while, but I do think Leo's volume and grit will wear Terrazas down over the second half of the fight. I don't totally count Terrazas out here, but I think he deserves to be considered the underdog. Santa Cruz by decision.

Tom Craze

This is an intriguing match-up, and while it's Santa Cruz who's got people excited, Terrazas - defending his recently-won WBC strap here - is, I think, by far the best fighter he's fought.

Since his last defeat - over three years ago to Rendall Munroe, which was certainly no disgrace - it feels like Terrazas has really developed, and perhaps decisively so for a guy now 30 years old. Sure, the guys he's dispatched in his eleven-fight win sequence has been a mixed bag, but there's been some quality in there too - Cermeno, Montiel, and Mijares are very credible names to have bested and the fact he only picked up the belt from a vacancy, there seems little doubt that this is a guy very worthy of his current slot in the 122lb picture, nestled behind only consensus standout Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Of course, this card is designed for Mares and Santa Cruz to work their way through and emerge unscathed, but if there's an upset in either of the two, I fancy it'll be this one. It's worth noting that when Terrazas loses, he has done so on each occasion by stoppage, but Santa Cruz should be made to dig deep here. Santa Cruz by split decision.

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