Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares II off

The October 7th rematch between WBA “Super” Champion Leo Santa Cruz and standard champ Abner Mares is off. The pair had canceled a purse bid under the assumption that a deal was in place, but negotiations reportedly broke down over, among other things, the money split and Santa Cruz’s desire for the two to beat up designated victims in a doubleheader before squaring off with each other.

If the fight does wind up coming together, it won’t be this year.

Santa Cruz (33-1-1, 18 KO) has fought three times to Mares’ (30-2-1, 15 KO) one since outslugging him in 2015, stopping Kiko Martinez before splitting a pair of majority decisions against Carl Frampton. Mares, meanwhile, became a world champion for the first time since 2013 last December with a split decision over Jesus Cuellar.

The featherweight division has faced quite a few roadblocks recently. Frampton himself had a fight with Andres Gutierrez scrapped at the last second when Gutierrez broke his face in the shower and Gary Russell Jr. fights once every thirteen months. In addition, Josh Warrington pulled out of a purse bid for a fight with Joseph Diaz Jr. on the Canelo-GGG undercard.