Carl Frampton vs. Léo Santa Cruz II
Boxing match
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Carl Frampton vs. Léo Santa Cruz II was a professional boxing match contested on January 28, 2017, for the WBA featherweight championship.[1]
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| Date | January 28, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super) featherweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Santa Cruz defeats Frampton by majority decision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
A rematch between Frampton and Santa Cruz was finalised in October.[2] There was talks the fight would take place in Frampton's home town of Belfast; however, the venue was confirmed to be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the first time Frampton would fight there since becoming a professional. The date was set for 28 January 2017.[3]
Speaking at a press conference at the Europa Hotel, Belfast, Santa Cruz said his preparations for the first fight were affected by his father's bone cancer and with it now in remission, the former champion expected to improve in the rematch saying "He was with me for the three weeks only before the bout. My dad was going through cancer and I wasn't 100% focused on my training. We are going to train 100% and my Dad is going to be with me for the whole camp. Preparations are going to go a lot better and while I know it is going to be another tough and really close fight, we are hoping to get the victory this time." In response Frampton said "No doubt, Leo went through a difficult time with his father's illness as anybody would in that situation, but he threw over a thousand punches in the fight. He was very fit. He was punching right to the end and you can't throw much more than a thousand punches in a fight. I don't think he's going to improve his work-rate. He may come up with a bit of a different game plan but whatever he comes up with, I believe I'll be able to deal with it."[4][5]
It was hoped that a win for Frampton would set up an all british unification bout in the summer against IBF champion Lee Selby, who was set to defend his belt against Jonathan Victor Barros on the Frampton Santa Cruz undercard.[6] However, the day before the fight was set to set place it abruptly cancelled by the Nevada State Athletic Commission stating the challenger didn't meet their "fight requirements".[7][8]
Frampton was a 5/9 favourite to win with Santa Cruz at 7/5.[9][10]
The fights
Undercard
The undercard saw wins for Josh Taylor, David Benavidez and Ivan Redkach.
Zlatičanin vs. Garcia
| Title(s) on the line | WBC lightweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Garcia defeats Zlatičanin by 3rd round KO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The co-featured bout saw undefeated WBC lightweight champion Dejan Zlatičanin make the first defence of his title against 2-division world champion Mikey Garcia.[11][12]
The fight
From the opening bell the challenger controlled Zlatičanin with a sharp and accurate jab a while mixing in combinations. The shorter champion tried to press forward in an attempt to get inside but found it difficult to get past jab. In the 3rd round Garcia landed a two punch combination starting with an uppercut which led Zlatičanin open for a final right hook which dropped Zlatičanin backwards on the floor. Referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight immediately, giving Garcia a KO victory and making him a 3-division world champion.
Garcia landed 50 punches of 176 thrown (28.4%), whilst Zlatičanin landed only 16 of 60 (26.7%).[13]
Aftermath
In the post fight interview, Garcia said "I'm very happy with the performance. We were controlling the pace and distance right away from the first round. I saw some openings and I thought I could hurt him later down the road, but I wasn't expecting it to be that soon in the fight." He also said that he would like to unify the division and also mentioned fighting undefeated Terence Crawford at light welterweight.[14] Zlatičanin for his part gave Garcia credit for his victory saying "I was just getting ready to pick it up a little bit and I got between the ropes and then he hit me with a good, hard punch. Mikey is a good fighter without a doubt. I never was able to get into the fight."
Main Event
10,085 were in attendance as the two again fought a very close and competitive bout. Santa Cruz heavily relied on his jab and made used his height and reach advantage. Compared to the first fight he used more boxing skills and reframed from engaging in as much slugging with the champion. However there were moments such as the final minute of the 4th round where the two men engaged in a fiery exchange with each of them giving and taking shots. Frampton was able to back Santa Cruz up in the 7th, landing left hands to the head of the former champion. The final three rounds featured much toe to toe action and the fight ended with the two men engaged in a heavy exchange in the centre of the ring before embracing at the final bell.
The fight went to the judges, Burt Clements scored the fight 114–114 while Dave Moretti and Glenn Feldman both had it 115–113 in favour of Santa Cruz giving him the victory by majority decision.[15][16][17]
ESPN and The Daily Telegraph scored the fight 115–113 for Santa Cruz while The Guardian scored it for Frampton 115–113.[18][19][20]
Frampton only landed 133 of his 592 punches thrown (22.4%) whereas Santa Cruz landed 230 of his 884 thrown (26.0%).[21]
Aftermath
In the post-fight interview, Santa Cruz said, "Before the fight I said I wanted revenge and I wanted to work hard. I went to the gym and I worked hard, and I did what I had to do. Carl Frampton is a good fighter. Let's make it a third fight!" Frampton offered no excuses saying "Leo probably deserved it. It was my fault and I want to apologise to the travelling fans, I hope we can do it again - we need to do it again. It was a very tough fight. Some of the rounds were close. I really think Leo deserved it. He was very clever and he used his reach. I think he deserved it. I'm being honest. I think he deserved it. But it was a very good fight. I think I can perform slightly better. No excuses."
Nielsen Media Research reported the fight averaged 587,000 and peaked at 643,000 viewers.[22][23]
Plans for an immediate third fight between Santa Cruz and Frampton were ended when the WBA ordered Santa Cruz to negotiate with regular titleholder Abner Mares for a mandatory defence, a rematch of their August 2015 bout.[24] Days later the IBF ordered that the previously planned bout between Selby and Barros go to purse bids ending speculation of an immediate match up between the two.[25]
Undercard
Confirmed bouts:[26]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Mikey Garcia |
 Dejan Zlatičanin |
WBC World Lightweight title | 3rd round KO |
 Ivan Redkach |
Demond Brock |
Lightweight (8 rounds) | 8th round TKO |
| David Benavidez |
 Sherali Mamajonov |
Super Middleweight (8 rounds) | 2nd round KO |
 Josh Taylor |
Alfonso Olvera |
Light Welterweight (8 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Preliminary bouts | |||
 Leduan Barthelemy |
Jesus Aguinaga |
Featherweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Herbert Acevedo |
Chris Singleton |
Welterweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Antonio Santa Cruz |
Victor Torres |
Bantamweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Jerry Perez |
Javier Cepeda |
Featherweight (4 rounds) | 1st round TKO |
Broadcasting
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Panama | RPC-TV |
 United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
| United States | Showtime |