Even the ever-polite Leo Santa Cruz acknowledged that Keenan Carbajal’s resume isn’t anything resembling impressive.

Santa Cruz recognizes that the estranged nephew of junior flyweight legend Michael Carbajal will take a gargantuan leap up in class when they fight Saturday night on the Keith Thurman-Mario Barrios undercard at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. Though Santa Cruz (37-2-1, 19 KOs) hasn’t boxed in 15 months, he is an enormous favorite over Carbajal (23-2-1, 15 KOs) in advance of a 10-round, 130-pound bout that’ll serve as the co-feature before Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs, 1 NC) and Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs) step into the ring for their 12-round welterweight main event (FOX Sports Pay-Per-View; $74.95).

The 30-year-old Carbajal has won 18 straight fights since he lost a six-round unanimous decision to Tucson’s Jair Quintero (then 3-3-3) nearly seven years ago in Glendale, California. He has stopped his past three opponents inside the distance, but they had a combined record of 61-40-2 entering their losses to Phoenix’s Carbajal.

“I don’t think he has fought anyone like big or anyone really known,” Santa Cruz told BoxingScene.com. “But, like I said, I never underestimate nobody, no matter what. I’m not gonna take this like it’s an easy fight. I’m still getting ready a hundred percent, like if I’m gonna fight the champion.”

For Carbajal, this represents an opportunity to upset a 33-year-old four-division champion who has lost only a 12-round majority decision to former featherweight and junior featherweight champ Carl Frampton and by sixth-round knockout to three-division champion Gervonta Davis. Baltimore’s Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) viciously knocked Santa Cruz unconscious with a left uppercut in their fight for Santa Cruz’s WBA 130-pound and 135-pound championships in October 2020 at Alamodome in San Antonio.

Carbajal obviously isn’t as tested or powerful as Davis, yet Santa Cruz considers him dangerous.

“I go in there thinking he’s gonna come with everything,” said Santa Cruz, of Rosemead, California. “This is the opportunity of his lifetime. I know he’s gonna come with everything to try to knock my head off. So, I have to take that into consideration, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m getting ready like I’m gonna go fight the best. I don’t underestimate him. I know that any punch could change a fight. He could land a good punch. And by the looks of it, he looks like he has good power. So, you never know what he could bring to the table.”

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