Fearless Correa Hopes Santibanes Can Lead To Inoue Fights

Though bantamweight Eros Correa will fight Walter Santibanes on Wednesday, he envisions a career path similar to that of MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba, and is targeting the Inoue brothers over the next few years.

Correa, who signed a network deal with ProBox TV, will make his Plant City, Florida debut at the ProBox TV Events Center this week.

Correa (14-1, 9 KOs), 31, hopes to mirror the career of Sakuraba, known as “The Gracie Killer” after defeating four members of the famed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Gracie family. Correa aims to defeat WBA champion Takuma Inoue first, before challenging the pound-for-pound star Naoya “The Monster” Inoue.

“I’m going to go after the little brother first [Takuma Inoue],” Correa said. “After I beat the brother, then I’ll just call out, big bro.

“Yeah, I think I can beat him [Naoya Inoue], it’s a possibility. You see him getting knocked down by Luis Nery. He’s not invincible. Anything can happen.”

Despite his big plans, Correa is not underestimating Santibanes (12-3, 2 KOs), 33, who upset prospect “Gucci” Manny Flores last year and recently had a competitive fight against Jose “Tito” Sanchez.

“I think most people won’t fight him,” Correa said. “I just really like boxing. I know this fight is going to make me a better fighter. So why not?

“I’m willing to fight anyone. As you can see, I’m fighting this guy [Santibanes] and this is not an easy fight. So I’m willing to fight anybody in Japan.”

Correa spent his camp in Las Vegas at the Pound-For-Pound Boxing Gym with coach Rich Barrientes, though his longtime coach Martin Nunez will be in his corner on fight night. He also sparred with teammates of Gervonta Davis, who is prepping for his fight with Frank Martin, even snapping a photo with Davis during his training camp. 

“I think the division is super competitive,” Correa said. “I definitely feel like I could beat all of the world champions in my division. It’s not like I could wipe them out or anything, but it’s so competitive that it can be anyone’s fight on any given night.”

Correa, on a four-fight win streak, holds a win over Saul Sanchez in 2022. In January, Sanchez fought then-WBO bantamweight champion Jason Moloney to a majority-decision loss in Canada. Reflecting on Sanchez’s world title fight, Correa admitted it was “kind of confusing” seeing an opponent he had defeated recently fighting for a title, a dream he continues to pursue.

“I’m expecting myself to be a little bit more calm,” Correa said. “Usually I’ll throw a big punch and pull out right away and just keep boxing. But I just want to land something big and see if I can damage my opponent, and if I can’t, I’ll just keep boxing.”