Santa Cruz vs Martinez official for February 27 on Showtime

As expected, Leo Santa Cruz will defend his WBA featherweight title against Kiko Martinez on February 27, with the two headlining on Showtime from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KO) is coming off of a win over Abner Mares in August, which aired as a PBC main event on ESPN. The 27-year-old Santa Cruz has also won world titles at bantamweight and super bantamweight. This will be his first title defense at 126. Martinez (35-6, 26 KO) is a former titleholder at 122, who has moved up after a wipeout loss last year to Scott Quigg. The 29-year-old Spaniard has won three straight fights, though against marginal opposition.

Also part of the card will be a rematch between Julio Ceja (30-1, 27 KO) and Hugo Ruiz (35-3, 31 KO) for the WBC super bantamweight title. Ceja defeated Ruiz in a five-round war on the Santa Cruz-Mares undercard.

Showtime will also be airing the big super bantamweight unification that afternoon from Manchester, England, where Carl Frampton will meet the aforementioned Quigg for the IBF and WBA 122-pound titles.