By Keith Idec

Three prominent online sports books list Leo Santa Cruz as a 100-1 favorite over Rafael Rivera.

That’s how little of a chance most handicappers have given Rivera of pulling off an upset Saturday night in their 12-round featherweight title fight. Santa Cruz, 30, hasn’t paid much mind to those unusually long odds.

The WBA super world featherweight champion considers Rivera “dangerous” because the unknown underdog could prevent Santa Cruz (35-1-1, 19 KOs) from earning the fights and the paydays he seeks by pulling off an upset in their “PBC On FOX” main event. FOX will televise Santa Cruz-Rivera as the headliner of a doubleheader slated to start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

“It’s a little bit hard because I have all the pressure on me,” Santa Cruz told krikya360.com following a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles. “All the people are expecting for me to win. It’s tough. But I know he’s a young fighter, aggressive and he’s gonna come with everything because this is the opportunity of his life. So that makes him more dangerous, because he’s gonna come with everything. But I’ve gotta go out there and just do what we’ve worked on in the gym, and just go out there and win the fight.”

Mexico’s Rivera replaced Houston’s Miguel Flores (23-2, 11 KOs) as Santa Cruz’s opponent late in January because Flores suffered an ankle injury while training. The last time Rivera (26-2-2, 17 KOs, 1 NC) filled in for an original opponent, featherweight contender Joseph Diaz Jr. out-boxed him en route to a 12-round, unanimous-decision win in September 2016 on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin undercard at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“It is a little change in training because we were getting ready for one fighter,” Santa Cruz said. “But in the gym, we always train for all styles. My dad always tells me to use different sparring partners – fighters that brawl, fighters that move – because he says sometimes the opponents could change it up. So, it wasn’t that much of a hassle.”

Rivera has lost only to Diaz (28-1, 14 KOs) and Joet Gonzalez (21-0, 12 KOs), who edged Rivera by split decision in a 10-rounder July 13 in Los Angeles.

“I think he’s an aggressive fighter,” Santa Cruz said. “He’s waiting for you to throw a punch and then he throws a combination. He throws a lot of punches and he tries to knock you out. But we’re gonna be smart, we’re gonna be prepared for that and I’m gonna go out there and try to be him perfectly.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.