Boxing – Morilla’s Sunday Report Card for Dec. 15

Keith Thurman

Leo Santa Cruz UD 12 Cesar Seda, WBC junior featherweight title

Buried in the undercard of a great main event that captured the undivided attention of the boxing world was this gem of a little fight, in which Santa Cruz (26-0-1, 15 KO) put on a great performance in a terrific matchup against Seda (25-2, 17 KOs) in what became another beautiful chapter of the storied Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry. Santa Cruz was the local fighter in this one, but Seda took the fight to him and soon enough the exchanges were explosive. Seda made the best out of his awkward southpaw stance, but Santa Cruz was clearly the stronger fighter and scored an authoritative decision with scorecards of 116-111, 115-112 and a ridiculous 117-110, even though he managed to drop Seda in the fifth with a textbook straight right. A great victory against a very credible opponent for a guy who’s rapidly becoming one of Mexico’s finest little warriors.

The winner goes on to: Hopefully, a matchup with Guillermo Rigondeaux that would do a lot to give this division a solid, unified champ. A clash with Britain’s Carl Frampton is more likely, though.

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Diego Morilla
Diego Morilla is a boxing writer since 1992. His work has been extensively featured in some of the most prestigious boxing media outlets in Latin America and the U.S., including ESPN.com, The Ring, Latino Boxing, MaxBoxing.com, Lo Mejor del Boxeo, PSN.com, HBO Sports and newspapers such as El Mundo, Primera Hora and El Vocero, among others.