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Leo Santa Cruz: ‘My father made me get stronger’

Fighters Network
13
Jul
Photo credit: Scott Hirano/Showtime

Photo credit: Scott Hirano/Showtime

LOS ANGELES, California – Leo Santa Cruz enters the second defense of his WBA featherweight title under different circumstances but with the same fighting mentality.
At a media workout held at City of Angels Gym on Tuesday afternoon, he shared that notion before a scrum of reporters, 18 days before he steps into the ring with Carl “The Jackal” Frampton on July 30.
“This fight could be the same or maybe even bigger than that one,” Santa Cruz said when asked to compare this fight with his win over Abner Mares a year ago. “We’re both undefeated. He’s an Irish star from the UK; a lot of people think good of him and he has a great record, a lot of knockouts, great power. He has great skills; he moves really good and it’s probably the toughest fight of my career right now. But that’s what we want. Like I said, I always want to fight the best, continue growing and hopefully a win against Carl Frampton puts me to the next level.”
Frampton (22-0, 14 knockouts) recently – albeit briefly – unified the IBF and WBA junior featherweight titles with his decision win over Scott Quigg last February. “None of them wanted to go and risk it,” recalled Leo when asked by RingTV.com how he thought the fight went. “I think that if though they were to try and risk it, they’d get caught or something like that. They were both more careful and skillful on the outside,” Santa Cruz further analyzed but quickly transitioned into breaking down how he will tackle the Jackal.
“I’m gonna be quick. From the first round, I’m gonna go straight at (Frampton), I’m gonna go after him, throwing a lot of punches, breaking him down, working the body, whatever I have to do to make him fight. So I think my style is going to make him fight; he’s gonna try to maybe move around and run but I’m always gonna be on top of him and I’m gonna get him tired so he’s not gonna have no other choice but to stop and fight with me.”
With Frampton moving up in weight, Santa Cruz (32-0-1, 18 KOs) carries a distinct size advantage of all facets but when Carl’s short frame was brought up, the 27-year-old revealed it’s not a preference. “It is difficult,” Leo said about fighting short opponents. “I’ve always said I hate to fight shorter people than me. If I could pick, I would like to fight same height as me or even taller because it’s more easier for me to fight those type of fighters. We’ve been practicing in the gym, sparring with shorter people to make it more comfortable and easier.”
Santa Cruz, Rosemead, California, perked up when asked if he wanted to make it a war. “I do want to make it a war. I’m preparing to make it a war – always be on top of him, breaking him down and going toe-to-toe – but my dad said that we have to be smart, that we have the reach. We’re taller than him and if going to war isn’t working, we’re going to have to box him.”
The elephant in the room was Leo’s father and trainer, Jose Santa Cruz, who was recently diagnosed with stage 3 myeloma, a bone cancer resting on his spine. Leo revealed his father’s illness two months ago and confessed at the sit-down that this is the toughest period of his life but also affirmed some good news.
“The doctor said he’s gonna be in many, many more years with us,” Leo said with a smile. “Right now the cancer is going through remission, so that makes me feel really happy and relaxed. I’m gonna be mentally and physically prepared for the fight.”
Santa Cruz’s fight with Frampton is the main event of a card televised on Showtime (9:00 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) and held in unfamiliar waters – at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Santa Cruz had fought a couple times on the East Coast as a prospect but never in New York, especially on such a grand stage. “The main thing I wanted was for my dad to be in the corner,” Leo said about his decision to fight there. “So we told the doctors that and the doctors told us that they were gonna do everything they could to have him over for the fight in New York. If everything goes as planned, he’s gonna be in the corner.”
It wasn’t the underlying factor of Santa Cruz’s decision, as it wasn’t guaranteed, but Jose has always been in Leo’s corner and just as consistent are his cowboy hat, boots and gold chains. He was in the same attire at the media workout and his presence was missed for the start of this camp.
“I’m used to my dad screaming at us and everything, so I miss that,” Santa Cruz said about his dad’s absence due to his chemotherapy regimen. His older brother Antonio is spearheading this camp but Leo says his dad has been able to be there for the past three weeks when not in chemo. “Yeah, of course,” Leo admitted to missing the verbal whip Jose cracked. “Even though we don’t like it – it gets us angry and stuff – we do need it in the gym because we need that tough guy to push us. ‘Cause if they don’t talk to us like that, we don’t do it, We don’t work hard or we don’t do things the way we have to.”
When asked to recall how he felt when he got the sobering news a few months ago, Santa Cruz revealed how his father will not only make him stronger but his own efforts will be retribution for his father.
“When we first heard it, it brought tears to my eyes. I was sad. I didn’t know what was gonna happen. My dad told us to be strong – that we cannot let this stop us. He made me get stronger. I know that if he saw us get weak and not work hard, it would make him weak too.”
You can reach Michael Baca II at [email protected], follow him at twitter.com/mikebaca2 and visit him at his blog, writeonthebutton.squarespace.com.

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