Santa Cruz looks to have better accuracy with his punches and better power but Mares is probably the more durable and rougher of the two. It will be interesting since both are come forward fighters but i'll give it to Mares in a close fight
I would favor Santa Cruz. I don't know what Mares' problem is, but he looked like he was close to running on empty vs Moreno in the championship rounds. I don't know if it is because he isn't training right or because he is throwing punches in bunches with no real purpose other than the fact to throw. Santa Cruz seems to have better stamina and he seems to know why he is throwing the punch and the effect he wants it to have. I would say Santa Cruz by KO11.
Had it been at 118 I'd say LSC by TKO. However, we still don't know how a move up in weight can affect his power or anything. If LSC retains his power, he'll beat Mares.
mares, if it was their next fight. i dont think leo is ready for a fight of that magnitude yet. he himself said he wanted a couple more fights in before taking on a mares. this shows me that the kid is aware enough of where he is, to know what he needs to do, to get where he wants to go. hes fast enough to catch almost anyone with the volume of well placed solid punches that he throws. in another year i think he will be ready.
This is hard, because Mares is the larger guy. But he throws less, tires quicker, and is less accurate. Santa Cruz may break him down over the rounds.
Regardless of what Santa Cruz does... If it goes all 12 Mares wins the decision. With these 2 guys going at it (and santa cruz being much more aggressive than Mares) then Santa cruz gets hit in the sack at least 20 times. Meanwhile, Santa cruz loses at least 2 points for punching Mares *legally in the face*. All that being said Santa Cruz roughs him up, Mares looks tired, should lose the decision, and yet... Wins by a wide margin. Seriously though, Mares isn't a bad fighter. Dirty as hell, but to get a win against him I beleive you'd have to knock him out twice.
Depends how Santa Cruz takes moving up a division and how he handles a bigger guy in Mares. As mentioned above though Mares' stamina isn't great and he's going to be taking a hell of a lot of punishment to his body. 50-50 fight imo, if Santa Cruz were to move up and beat a solid 122 fighter then i'd make him slight favourite.
Santa Cruz's workrate is just mad its impossible not to be a fan of this guy, i think he'd just about UD Mares because Mares gets tired and doesnt like body shots
