Santa Cruz finally gets opponent for Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard
It took longer than expected but Leo Santa Cruz finally knows who he is fighting Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.
Santa Cruz, the World Boxing Council super bantamweight champion who is undefeated at 29-0-1 with 17 knockouts, will meet Jose Cayetano of Tijuana, Mexico in a scheduled 10-round bout on the pay per view undercard of the world welterweight unification title fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao main event.
Cayetano was approved by the Nevada Athletic Commission after two other names had been offered and rejected. Cayetano is 17-3 with eight KOs and has lost two of his last four fights. In his most recent action, he was defeated by Enrique Bernache on Feb. 7 as Bernache was awarded a 10-round unanimous decision.
“We’ve been training 100 percent so we’re ready for whoever,” Santa Cruz said last week. “Every fight is dangerous so we won’t take whoever we face lightly.”
Santa Cruz-Cayetano is one of just two undercard fights on the PPV telecast. In the other fight, scheduled for 12 rounds, World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO) defends his title against Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs).
The non-televised portion of the undercard is also set. Chris Pearson (11-0, 9 KOs) looks to remain unbeaten as he faces Said El Harrak (12-2, 7 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight bout. Undefeated Jesse Hart (16-0, 13 KOs) faces fellow unbeaten Mike Jimenez (17-0, 11 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight bout.
Also on the card will be undefeated Las Vegas cruiserweight Andrew Tabiti (9-0, 9 KOs) who will meet Anthony Caputo Smith (15-4, 10 KOs) in an eight-round bout. The card begins with undefeated super middleweight Brad Solomon (24-0, 9 KOs) against Adrian Rene Granados (13-3, 9 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
The PPV telecast begins at 6 p.m.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.