Marcos "El Chino" Maidana, the former welterweight world champion who gets his eagerly awaited rematch with Floyd "Money" Mayweather in the main event of "MAYHEM: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2" on Saturday, Sept. 13 live on SHOWTIME PPV, world champions Leo "El Terremoto" Santa Cruz (WBC Super Bantamweight), Miguel "TÃtere" Vazquez (IBF Lightweight), junior welterweight contender John Molina, Maidana's trainer Robert Garcia and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe participated in a Media Workout Tuesday at Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard. Here's what WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz said during Tuesday's workout.
LEO SANTA CRUZ, WBC Super Bantamweight Champion
"I feel as if I have a target on my back. There is added pressure for me in all of my fights because I am becoming a household name. At the same time though, it means that I am doing something right and my hard work is paying off. People want to fight me and take away my title. It keeps me mentally and physically strong at all times. Before, I was the one looking for them, now they are looking for me.
"Going into this fight, I will go out there and try my best. I know a lot of people are saying that the opponent is not up to my caliber, but I just go out there and fight who they tell me to fight.
"My body is rested and hopefully I will perform to the best of my abilities for this fight. I have been training really hard, I am always in the gym, even if I don't have a fight coming up. I like to be ready just in case.
"I have a strong desire to put on a great fight for the fans since I have this opportunity because of them. If I give the fans a boring fight, then they won't want to see me on TV again.
"I feel like I learned a lot from the [Cristian] Mijares fight. He moved around a lot and kept me on my toes. My plan was to go out there and break him down, but he was very experienced and knew what to do to survive. I feel like I learned more in that fight than I did in any other fight because I was able to figure out how to chase around my opponent.
"The health of my brother has been both a motivation and a distraction for me. In the past, when I would be getting ready for fights he would be in the hospital and I would go and visit him at the same time. I am constantly worried about his health, but at the same time I use it as motivation because I want to be able to support him financially and the only way I am able to do this is if I keep on winning my fights. I told him that if he keeps fighting for his life then I will keep fighting for world titles.
"My opponent [Manuel Roman] is a great fighter and has many of the same qualities of my past opponents. The only difference with him is that he hasn't received the exposure that some of my past opponents received, so many don't know much about him. We know each other very well, we have sparred in the gym together before and he knows how to fight me.
"I am not looking at this as an easy fight no matter what anyone says. He wasn't an easy sparring partner; we would go at it back and forth. I didn't beat him up easily as I have with other partners. We have a lot of respect for one another and we are friends, but once I get into the ring there is no playing nice. This is a business and I have to do whatever it takes to come out with a victory."
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"MAYHEM: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2," a 12-round world championship bout for Mayweather's WBA Welterweight Belt and WBC Welterweight and Super Welterweight World Titles takes place Saturday, Sept. 13 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona Extra, O'Reilly Auto Parts and "The Equalizer" in theaters Sept. 26. The event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) and is the fourth fight of a six-fight deal between Mayweather and Showtime Networks Inc. In the co-main event, Leo Santa Cruz defends his WBC Super Bantamweight Title against Manuel Roman in a 12-round bout and Miguel Vazquez faces Mickey Bey in a 12-round bout for the IBF Lightweight World Championship. In the PPV opener, Alfredo Angulo squares against James De La Rosa in a 10-round middleweight bout(162 lbs.). The event will be available in Spanish through secondary audio programming (SAP).
Preceding the pay per view telecast, SHOWTIME® will present a live 10-round junior welterweight bout between John Molina (27-4, 22 KOs) of Covina, Calif., and Humberto "La Zorrita" Soto (64-8-2, 35 KOs) on "COUNTDOWN LIVE" (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on SHOWTIME ).
Tickets for the live event are on sale now and are priced at $1,600, $1,200, $850, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges and taxes. Tickets are limited to eight (8) per person with a limit of four (4) at the $350 price range. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 will be shown on the big screen in over 500 movie theaters across the country via Fathom Events. For more information visit www.FathomEvents.com