Leo Santa Cruz on what he learned from Gervonta Davis loss

Leo Santa Cruz opened up to FanSided about what he learned from his KO loss to Gervonta Davis as he heads to the ring against Keenan Carbajal.

Leo Santa Cruz is used to winning. It’s something that he has done at an incredible rate throughout his 16-year boxing career. Learning to get over a knockout loss is something new and previously unknown for Santa Cruz.

Before his 2020 bout against Gervonta Davis, Santa Cruz only had one loss on his record, which he avenged against Carl Frampton. Against Davis, Santa Cruz was unfamiliar with being an underdog, but he was battling hard against the more powerful Davis.

Then it happened.

Santa Cruz went head to head with the hardest puncher in the lightweight and possibly super lightweight divisions. Davis caught Santa Cruz with a devastating left uppercut that he didn’t see coming, and Santa Cruz was badly knocked out.

Initially, the pain of defeat was a hard pill to swallow for Santa Cruz, but fortunately, it’s a pain that faded quickly due to the positive comments Santa Cruz received from his fanbase. Defeat became easier to digest when comparing his loss to many others suffered by some of the greatest boxers in history.

“I couldn’t believe how I got knocked out like that,” Santa Cruz told FanSided. “I was out for like, a minute or a few seconds. I was out. I was like, ‘Man, how did that happen to me? I never even gotten hurt or anything like that.’

Watch Leo Santa Cruz vs. Keenan Carbajal at 9 p.m ET on Saturday, Feb. 5 on FOX pay-per-view, on the undercard of Keith Thurman vs. Mario Barrios

“And for him to knock me out like that. I was kind of depressed. But like I said, after the fans, they started sending me messages comments to keep my head up. He’s a great fighter. And, you know, even the best get caught. You know, I started to get my motivation back and everything, and they gave me the motivation, the strength to come back to the ring, and you know, keep on fighting.”

Santa Cruz vowed to fight on, but he decided to take a break and get some rest for the first time in his career. In many ways, time away from the sport was something Santa Cruz physically needed.

“The truth, I used it like a rest, you know,” said Santa Cruz. “A time to rest, to spend time with the family, to go places that we couldn’t go when I was, you know, training to fight and stuff like that.”

Santa Cruz and his family took a few vacations. It served as a moment devoted to his family, but his body also benefitted.

“For other camps, I think I came back too fast, and I felt my body kind of tired when I was training,” explained Santa Cruz. “And for this camp, I feel more rested. I trained, and I don’t feel as tired as before. I feel strong. I feel more energetic and stuff like that. So I think I did need that rest.”

Looking back at his bout with Davis, Santa Cruz still believes that he could have beaten Davis if not for making one mistake.

“I think I stood there. I wanted to entertain the fans,” said Santa Cruz. “You know, I wanted to please the fans because they love a war. They love toe-to-toe fights, and that was what I was trying to do. But I shouldn’t have done that with a stronger fighter, you know, a fighter that has the power to knock you out with one punch. And that’s what I did wrong.

“I think if I would have moved, he wouldn’t have caught me with a big punch. So I learned that I have to learn how to box, move, and not get carried away and stay there and to get hit with the big shots.”

Even in defeat, Santa Cruz was able to pull a lesson and attain added boxing wisdom. After 15 months out of the ring, he’s ready to reassert himself as the top featherweight in the world. His next challenge is Keenan Carbajal on the undercard of the Feb. 5 Keith Thurman vs. Mario Barrios pay-per-view event. Santa Cruz was down, but he’s looking to prove that he’s not out.