Miguel Flores (24-2, 12 KOs) enters the ring a massive underdog against Leo Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 KOs) when they square off at the MGM Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday. The fight, for the vacant WBA super featherweight title, will be the co-main event of the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz heavyweight title rematch.

On paper at least, Santa Cruz-Flores appears to be a gross mismatch. Santa Cruz, 31, is a three-division world title holder who, except for a draw in his second pro fight, has  beaten every opponent he has faced. He avenged the only loss of his career (to Carl Frampton) within six months.

Flores’ level of opposition, on the other hand, has been average at best and he has two losses on his record. Moreover, he has been inactive, fighting only once in 2018 and 2019 and suffered an ankle injury that forced the postponement of the fight that was originally scheduled in February.

Regardless of the overwhelming odds, Flores, 27, aspires to pull off a monumental upset.

“More than anything, it’s going to be the IQ and our game plan,” Flores said. “We can sit there and fight toe-to-toe with him all night but we know that’s what he likes, so we have to go in there and be smart, use our IQ, experience and boxing skills.”

“People can talk and people can say things and I’m OK with that,” Flores added. “I’m OK with being the underdog. That’s only taking pressure off my shoulders. He’s the champion and he’s the one who has to impress the fans. I just have to go there and fight him but I’m going to perform well because I’m the type of fighter that rises to the occasion.”

Flores suffered both his losses in 2017. He was dropped and stopped by Dat Nguyen (20-3, 7 KOs) after getting caught by a hook-right-hook combination in the sixth round. Later that year, Flores lost to Chris Avalos (27-5, 20 KOs) via fifth-round TKO due to a nasty gash over his left eye. He had dropped Avalos in the third round and was comfortably ahead when the cut occurred. The referee ruled it the result of a punch although it appeared to be caused by a headbutt.

“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Flores said. “The loss to Dat Nguyen, I just got hit with a good shot and I was winning that fight. That happens in boxing and you take that as a learning experience. Now, the loss to Chris Avalos, I really won that fight. I’m not going to take that as a loss. I’ll take the Dat Nguyen loss because I really lost that fight and that’s OK. But the Chris Avalos fight, it was just a bad call by the referee. But it also was a learning experience.”

As for his game plan, Flores said it is to derail Santa Cruz’s game plan.

“Obviously you take little things from that (the first Frampton) fight and also other fights,” Flores said. “He’s been in some tough fights like with (Abner) Mares. But it’s not mostly what he does; it’s what we have to do. So yes, there’s some bad habits that he has but we’re not too much into that. It’s more what we have to do to offset his rhythm because he has a great rhythm. He likes to throw a lot of punches so we have to break his rhythm and not let him do what he wants.”

Co-trained by Aaron Navarro and Bobby Benton at the Main Boxing Gym in Houston, Flores moved his training camp to Las Vegas two weeks in advance of the fight to acclimate to the time difference and dry desert air.

“Training camp has been great and not much different from my other training camps,” Flores said. “We always train with high intensity at the championship level. We didn’t do anything too crazy at this camp. We just worked hard like we always do, we know we have a tough task in front of us but we’re ready for the challenge and yes, we did come to Vegas a little early to get used to the climate and the two-hour time difference so we’re ready.”

Among Flores’ sparring partners was Pablo Cruz (18-2, 6 KOs) who was brought in to replicate Santa Cruz’s high volume punching. Cruz was the closer, taking on Flores in the last five or six rounds of each sparring session in order to ensue Flores remain sharp in the later rounds.

“I try to mimic Leo Santa Cruz the best way I know,” Cruz said. “He’s a pressure fighter who likes coming forward and he throws a lot of punches.”

Flores had peaked at the end of last week, Cruz said, and will be in optimal condition when he steps into the ring on Saturday.

“He finished training camp pretty strong,” Cruz said. “His conditioning is great, his combinations are great so he’s just ready to go. When I left his training camp he looked happy and confident so he’s ready. Regardless of whatever happens, he’s going to give it all he’s got.”

Cruz acknowledges that Flores has a daunting task ahead of him but that an upset is possible should Flores apply his skills strategically and execute his game plan to perfection.

“He’s gotta try to be first, establish the pace with Leo and just try to box him,” Cruz said. “The fight is gonna be hard because Leo is there to fight. Miguel should box him for a couple of rounds slow him down with body shots a little bit and then whenever it’s time to let his hands go, it’s time to let them go and don’t let Leo take the pace away from him.”