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By: Hans Themistode
Things were going according to plan, just until they weren’t.
For former multiple division champion Leo Santa Cruz, he seemingly had Gervonta Davis exactly where he wanted him. That is, until a left uppercut changed everything.
In late October, the Mexican product found himself in a back and forth brawl with the hard-hitting Davis at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. On the night, Santa Cruz successfully outworked his man from the very beginning. For every punch Davis threw in his direction, Santa Cruz would throw two in return. According to CompuBox, Santa Cruz threw 390 total punches while connecting on 97 of them, while Davis on the other hand, threw 227 while connecting on 84.
In the case of Santa Cruz, throwing punches in bunches was a big part of his plan. In the midst of successfully completing said game plan however, he left himself wide open for a Davis uppercut that ended the night. Despite the outcome, Santa Cruz is under the impression that if he were able to take Davis shot better or avoid it entirely, things would have been much different.
“The fight was good but I got caught,” said Santa Cruz to Fight Hype during a recent interview. “I don’t take anything away from Tank Davis but I think if the fight would have gone 12 rounds I think I could have won.”
At the moment of stoppage, Davis led on all three judges scorecards by a single point with a score of 48-47. Immediately following his defeat, the possible future hall of famer heavily considered retirement.
Several months later though, having given both his body and mind time to recover, Santa Cruz isn’t eyeing retirement just yet. In terms of opponents, he doesn’t have one penciled in. With that being said, despite the violent manner in which his body dropped to the canvas following a left uppercut from Davis, Santa Cruz would love to run things back.
“I’m going to ask for the rematch. Hopefully, they give it to me, if not then we’re going to go ahead and look for another fight.”
