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In his bout in U.S. soil, Carl Frampton had to overcome two early knockdowns to win on points and keep his junior featherweight title. This time, Frampton returns for a bigger fight which could launch him to U.S. super stardom.
Frampton vs. Cruz
As announced by Frampton’s promoter on Thursday, the Briton will challenge Leo Santa Cruz for the latter’s featherweight title. Cyclone Promotions, which handles Frampton, said that the bout will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York where Frampton stands to be the crowd favorite owing to the large Irish community there.
For Frampton, the bout will be more than just for a world title. The WBA World belt which Santa Cruz now owns was the same belt held by Frampton’s manager Barry McGuigan held some 30 years ago.
Chasing a Belt
Coming off the biggest win of his career, a 12-round split decision win over Scott Quigg in a champion vs champion mega fight in Britain last February 27th, Frampton is moving up in weight to chase another title. Last month, Frampton was stripped of the WBA regular version of the title for failing to notify the body of his intention to defend the belt against his mandatory challenger, Guillermo Rigondeaux. On Thursday, Frampton vacated the IBF Featherweight title to make way for a fight with Santa Cruz rather than defend it against mandatory challenger Shingo Wake. Now without a belt, Frampton is eyeing what’s on Leo Sant Cruz’s waist.
Santa Cruz meanwhile outpointed fellow L.A. standout Abner Mares in the Battle of Los Angeles in August of 2015 to win the featherweight title. The former Bantamweight and Junior Featherweight champion recently defended his featherweight belt with a 5th round TKO win over Kiko Martinez also on February 27th. Martinez fought and lost twice to Frampton before taking on Santa Cruz.
Unbeaten Runs
Santa Cruz and Frampton are each other’s biggest test so far in their careers. Santa Cruz is undefeated in 32 bouts and has 18 KOs. He’s one of the fastest rising stars in boxing with his high volume and all action fighting style. Against Frampton, he’s matched up with a similarly unbeaten foe. The Jackal is 22-0 with 14 KOs and like Santa Cruz, he has a fan-friendly style which makes this an explosive matchup with a lot of fireworks to expect from these two young and exciting fighters.
