Leo Santa Cruz scored his biggest victory as a professional on Saturday night (Photo: Instagram)

By Chris Robinson

On Saturday night, Aug. 29, Leo Santa Cruz became a three-division world champion with a hard-fought majority-decision victory over fellow three-division titlist Abner Mares inside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

The bout took place on ESPN’s airwaves as a “Premier Boxing Champions” telecast and the action didn’t disappoint.

Mares (29-2-1, 15 KO’s) came out aggressive early and seemed to get Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KO’s) out of his rhythm in the opening rounds. The action was intense and you could tell that each man had serious intentions with their shots.

Santa Cruz began figuring things out in the fourth against Mares by controlling distance and landing some very hard counter punches. Mares was undaunted with his attack but seemed a little undersized and had trouble breaking through Santa Cruz.

There were several close rounds due to the high-volume of punches coming from each man but you just had a feeling that Santa Cruz was doing enough to edge the rounds.

As the championship rounds closed, each man slugged away, but there was only room enough for one winner.

Two scorecards reading 117-111 overruled a 114-114 tally, as Santa Cruz came away with his biggest victory to date, as well as the WBA featherweight title.

Each man seems open to a rematch. Stay tuned for more post-fight results.

Chris Robinson can be reached at CRobinson@hustleboss.com