Erik Morales was the first to do it. Jorge Arce and Juan Manuel Marquez did it. Now it’s Leo Santa Cruz’s turn.
Santa Cruz, who has won belts at bantamweight, junior featherweight and featherweight, is moving up the scale to junior lightweight in a bid to become the fourth Mexican-born fighter to win a title in a fourth division against Miguel Flores on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz card Nov. 23 in Las Vegas.
“My dream was to be a four-division world champion,’’ Santa Cruz said in a conference call. “I wanted to win the title so when I retire, I’m remembered as one of the only fighters that wins a fourth title, in four divisions. Not a lot of people do that. So that was my dream.
“I have the opportunity. So I’m going to go for it and hopefully everything goes good. People ask me, and I say, I don’t know what’s going to happen that day on November 23. But if I win, I want the big fights.’’
Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 knockouts), who is fighting for a vacant 130-pound belt, is moving into the division just as Gervonta Davis is leaving it. Davis has moved up to lightweight and will face Yuriokis Gamboa on Dec. 28 in Atlanta.
“I want the big names that people will want me to fight,’’ said Santa Cruz, who mentioned Gary Russell Jr.
A week after Santa Cruz’s junior lightweight debut, Oscar Valdez Jr. another former featherweight champion, will fight for the first time at 130 pounds against Andres Gutierrez on Nov. 30 in Las Vegas. Santa Cruz-Valdez was seen as good featherweight bout, but it never happened because of the usual promotional divides. Valdez is a Top Rank fighter; Premier Boxing Champions promotes Cruz.
It’s likely that Santa Cruz will get his title in a fourth division. He is a significant favorite to beat Flores (24-2, 12 KOs), who is 2-2 in his last four fights.
“I train hard no matter who the opponent is,’’ Santa Cruz said Wednesday at a media workout at City of Angeles Boxing. “That’s the only thing I know how to do. So I don’t think about any let downs, only about winning the fight in front of me. I think this is a great opportunity to introduce myself to the division.’’
Mexican Canelo Alvarez claimed to win a title in a fourth division when he stopped light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev on Nov. 2. However, one of his titles is the WBA’s “regular” version, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize.