IBF Bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz will defend his title against undefeated Alberto Guevarra on December 15th on the CBS Network;s first televised boxing match in fifteen years that will be part of a massive day and night of boxing at the Los Angeles Sports Arena according to Dan Rafael of espn.com
“We are calling it ‘Santa Cruz is Coming To Town,'” Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer said, showing his holiday spirit.
Also on the card will be the pro debut of Olympian Joseph Diaz Jr.
“We are happy to be on CBS,” Schaefer said. “We’ve been working on this, and we’re excited to bring boxing back to CBS.”
In the evening, Golden Boy is promoting a Showtime-televised tripleheader at the same arena. That previously announced card is headlined by the return of former junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KOs) against Carlos Molina (17-0-1, 7 KOs) in Khan’s first bout since losing his title by fourth-round knockout to Danny Garcia in a July unification fight.
Schaefer also unveiled the other two TV fights on the evening card: junior middleweight contender Alfredo Angulo (21-2, 18 KOs) against Mexican countryman Jorge Silva (19-2-2, 15 KOs), and heavyweight Deontay Wilder (25-0, 25 KOs), the 2008 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist, taking on his most notable opponent in Kelvin Price (13-0, 6 KOs).
On the Showtime Extreme portion of the Khan-Molina undercard, Schaefer said welterweight Shawn Porter (20-0, 14 KOs) will face former lightweight titlist Julio Diaz (40-7, 29 KOs). Other 2012 U.S. Olympians also will be on the card, Schaefer said.
“We think Diaz has tremendous potential, which is why we wanted to sign him,” Schaefer said. “He has a great personality, he has charisma and he can fight. We think of him as the total package. He’s bilingual, he’s well-spoken and exciting. He has all the ingredients.”
Ralph Heredia, Diaz’s manager, told ESPN.com that they had interest from several promoters and also strongly considered signing with Top Rank.
“We are ecstatic to be going with Golden Boy,” Heredia said. “CBS hasn’t had a fight since around 1997 and the exposure Joseph will get is unbelievable. We couldn’t be happier. I believe Golden Boy has the best platforms for Joseph. (Golden Boy president) Oscar (De La Hoya) will take him under his wing and help guide his career. Just look how many shows they are doing on all different platforms. It made the most sense to go with Golden Boy.
“Joseph is very excited. He watched Oscar since he was a kid and he admires him as a fighter and as a businessman. Top Rank is a class operation, too, but when it came down it, we believed Golden Boy had the best platforms.”
