Leo Santa Cruz Wages War with Kiko Martinez, Stops Him in the Fifth

If the fickle fight fan wasn’t convinced that Leo Santa Cruz is pound-for-pound of the most exciting fighters in the world, if Saturday night’s war with Kiko Martinez couldn’t change the ironclad mind then nothing will.

Santa Cruz remained unbeaten as a pro as the popular Mexican retained his WBA featherweight title by stopping Martinez in the fifth round of a thrilling back-and-forth war. The Honda Center in Anaheim was filled to its gills as the local hero electrified the thousands in attendance but he had to work a little harder than many expected after seeing how the first round unfolded.

Santa Cruz (32-0-1, 18 KOs) dropped Kiko with an overhand right just a few ticks into the fight and it seemed like it was going to be a short night. Martinez climbed back to his feet and was felled moments later from a sizzling right cross, but even then the shorter “Sensacion” continued to fight.

The two tiny giants tore into each other with reckless abandon, literally throwing hundreds of punches in an almost non-stop tornado of violence and it wasn’t just the champion leading the assault. Martinez wound up bloodying Leo’s nose and puffed up his face a little, but Santa Cruz was the sharper of the two and when he unfurled his punches, they were definitely heavier.

Finally, Martinez was rocked by a laser of a right hand in the fifth, but this time he wouldn’t escape. Santa Cruz pounced on his wobbly foe and unloaded a cascade of punches from every angle imaginable, raking his foe’s body and head.

Martinez (35-7, 26 KOs) bravely fought back but he was getting pounded on with clean, hard shots. Finally, with Martinez on rubbery legs with his back to the ropes – and with Santa Cruz showing no signs of slowing down – referee Raul Caiz had no choice but to jump in and stop the carpet bombing at 2:09 of the frame.

In the co-featured bout, Hugo Ruiz was determined to exact revenge on Julio Ceja and he did. The two met last August where Ceja stopped him in the fifth, but the same fate would not fall upon Ruiz a second time.

As soon as the fight began, Ruiz decked his rival with a perfect right to the jaw. Ceja (30-2, 27 KOs) had difficulty in climbing back to his feet but when he did, he hobbled on his right leg. Ruiz (36-3, 32 KOs) immediately attacked him with a volley of punches until referee Tom Taylor jumped in to save Ceja. The TKO came just 51 seconds into the match, allowing Ruiz to snatch the WBC super bantamweight title in the process. Ceja appeared to have injured his ankle when he was floored by that first punch.