By Chris Cella
It was announced that in addition to former light welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan (26-3, 18 KO) battling undefeated prospect Carlos Molina (17-0-1, 7 KO) this Saturday, December 15, from the Los Angeles Sports Arena as part of Showtime Championship Boxing, the sport will return to network TV as Showtime will present a special card on CBS beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern the same afternoon.
Headlining the CBS card is IBF Bantamweight world champion Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz (22-0-1, 13 KO) putting his title on the line against undefeated rising star Alberto “Metro” Guervara (16-0, 6 KO).
Coming into this title defense fresh off a 9th round TKO win over Victor Zaleta this past November 10, Santa Cruz will be looking to continue his dominating ways as he eyes a possible fight with Abner Mares or Nonito Donaire.
Since capturing the vacant IBF bantamweight title in July, Santa Cruz has remained active inside the squared circle and successfully defended his belt twice by way of TKO.
Guervara will be making his United States debut in the 17th fight of his young career, and the stage has never been bigger for the Mexican fighter. He will be coming into this fight a heavy underdog, with significantly less punching power than his opponent Santa Cruz. But his past few performances inside the ring have given him the chance to fight for the belt, and the rising prospect will undoubtedly make the most of it.
Santa Cruz has quickly established himself as one of the strongest contenders in the bantamweight division; in his last outing against Zaleta he was a driving force every round of the fight, coming forward and fighting from all angles and unleashing vicious combinations. The game opponent Zaleta was down three times prior to the final 9th round, and despite his best efforts, didn’t have an answer for what Santa Cruz threw at him.
This IBF bantamweight title fight promises to be an exciting prelude to Saturday’s night boxing, as Santa Cruz puts on a show every time he steps into the ring.
The action-packed day of fighting will be capped off with Amir Khan looking to rediscover his winning ways and reestablish himself as one of the top light welterweights in the world. Losing a controversial split decision to Lamont Peterson last December, and being upset by WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia in July, Khan understands the importance of leaving the ring with a ‘W’ Saturday night. A loss against the undefeated prospect Molina will quickly dissolve any hopes he has of again fighting for a belt in 2013.
The entire fight card for Saturday’s all-day boxing event is as follows:
Light Welterweight- Amir Khan vs. Carlos Molina
Bantamweight- Leo Santa Cruz vs. Alberto Guevara
Light Middleweight- Alfredo Angulo vs. Jorge Silva
Heavyweight- Deontay Wilder vs. Kelvin Price
Welterweight- Shawn Porter vs. Julio Diaz
Welterweight- Frankie Gomez vs. Pavel Miranda
Light Middleweight- Hugo Centeno Jr. vs. Allen Conyers
Middleweight- Christopher Pearson vs. Dashon Johnson
Dominic Breazeale, Marcus Browne, Errol Spence, Terrell Gausha, Joseph Diaz and Jerren Cochran will also be going to battle against opponents to be announced.
The action kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS, with the night portion of the show being aired live on Showtime Extreme at 9 p.m. Eastern.