By Keith Idec

Even Leo Santa Cruz can’t say for sure who’ll win his fight against Abner Mares on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Santa Cruz seconded Mares’ promise on a recent conference call that they’ll put on the “Fight of the Year” at Staples Center (ESPN; 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), yet also acknowledged that their featherweight 12-rounder is a “50-50 fight” that either boxer could win. Mares, meanwhile, predicted he’ll knock out the unbeaten Santa Cruz in the seventh round.

“In my mind this is a fight of the year because we’re both Mexican street fighters,” Santa Cruz said. “We come forward, trying to please the fans and I think this is going to be a great fight. I think he’s a great fighter and everything. And I see this fight like almost a 50-50. It could go either way because he’s a good fighter, I’m a good fighter. So I think it’s going to be great.”

The 27-year-old Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17 KOs), of Rosemead, California, is about a 2-1 favorite over the 29-year-old Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs), of Montebello, California.

“Well at the beginning, I think Mares was the favorite,” Santa Cruz said. “But now I think, as I’ve been hearing, that I’m the favorite now. But, like many of the fans, they can’t choose either side because they know this fight is really hard for both of us, that it’s a really even fight. So I think we have to leave it to August 29th to see who’s the better fighter that day.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.