Saturday, February 27, 5.30pm ET and 10pm ET
A pair of explosive championship boxing cards on Showtime are coming at you like a perfectly timed left hook when Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg clash in Manchester, England (5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT) followed by two title fights in Anaheim, California, headlined by Leo Santa Cruz defending his 126-pound crown against Kiko Martinez (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).
Frampton vs Quigg
The United Kingdom will be divided when a pair of undefeated 122-pound champions dump gasoline on an already enflamed rivalry.
In front of a sold-out crowd at the 21,000-seat Manchester Arena in Manchester, Lancashire, U.K., Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg will fight to see who will be crowned the true king of the Kingdom – in the ring at least.
Each fighter favors an action-packed, no-nonsense style, meaning that plenty of sparks – and fists – should fly in this title unification bout.
Santa Cruz vs Martinez
Last August at Staples Center in his hometown of Los Angeles, Leo Santa Cruz turned in the performance of his career as he bested onetime three-division champ Abner Mares to win a 126-pound world title in one of the most scintillating fights of 2015.
In his first title defense, Santa Cruz takes on former 122-pound titleholder Kiko Martinez, who has notched impressive victories over former 118- and 126-pound champ Hozumi Hasegawa, Colombian prospect Jhonatan Romero and tough South African Jeffrey Mathebula.
Expect this hard-charging Spaniard to come at Santa Cruz like he was staging a Running of the Bulls in the ring.
Ceja vs Ruiz
When prototypical Mexican warriors Julio Ceja and Hugo Ruiz met on the undercard of the aforementioned Santa Cruz-Mares clash, they didn’t just warm the arena for the main event, they set the room on fire.
In a dramatic, come-from-behind victory, Ceja survived a third-round knockdown to rally and stop Ruiz two rounds later in a breathless, full-on brawl.
Now, the two big punchers – who have combined for 58 knockouts in 69 fights – square off again in a highly anticipated rematch with both Ceja’s 122-pound title and homeland bragging rights on the line.
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