Leo Santa Cruz spoke with Fight Hub TV's Marcos Villegas at the WBC convention recently, and indicated that he'll be fighting on January 17 on Showtime, with Abner Mares the likely May target after that.
"I've been training because they told me I was going to fight in January," Santa Cruz said. "They hadn't told me the date, but now they've told me the 17th. So I've been training."
Santa Cruz, 26, said he doesn't have an opponent yet, and with just a couple of weeks left to go between now and the fight, his wish for a "good opponent" seems unlikely to come true. When asked about a potential 2015 fight with one of the other super bantamweight titleholders, Santa Cruz again played down the idea of fighting Guillermo Rigondeaux, and said that Abner Mares is a likely opponent for a May fight if all goes well.
"I heard that Quigg, he had surgery on his hand, so he's out until May. Frampton's going to fight against Avalos. Guillermo Rigondeaux, the people don't like his style, and I don't think that'd be an interesting fight. I wanna give a great show and a great fight for the fans. I think against Mares is more likely. His style and everything. They told me already that if everything goes well in this next fight, then they'll try to make the fight against Mares."