Not everyone can leave Las Vegas a winner. Carl Frampton lost his WBA Featherweight title against Leo Santa Cruz by majority points decision, leaving both Mexican and Irish fans excited at the prospect of a trilogy.
Frampton was philosophical after his loss, saying that Santa Cruz had deserved his victory. “It was a very tough fight. Some of the rounds were close. I really think Leo deserved it. He told me what he was going to do. The brawler was out-boxing the boxer. My fault. I’m sorry. We will have to do it again. We have to do it again.”
Frampton and his team will hope that the proposed third fight takes place in Belfast, but that is highly doubtful as the Mexican currently holds all of the aces. If these two meet again in the ring, we can expect it will be back in Las Vegas for the benefit of North American television audiences who will welcome these two men back to their screens with open arms. The men get on excellently outside the ropes, and their compatibility is even more acute when they fight. They are seemingly incapable of having a disappointing fight together.
Frampton had brought thousands of fans to the Vegas strip. An Irish tricolour with “Carnlough for Carl” stood by a Northern Irish flag from the Shankill supporters club. Frampton is beloved by both sets of the community. They sang loudly and lustily before, during and after the fight. They were more than matched by the Mexicans and their mariachi bands. Both fans mixed freely and easily, united in respect at two amicable warriors in the fight of their lives.
Throughout the fight, despite performing bravely Frampton cut a frustrated figure. Neither his team nor the crowd predicted that Santa Cruz would use his jab so skilfully. Frampton normally so ring smart, was out thought by the wily and brave Mexican in the early rounds. Frampton refused to give excuses for his loss.
“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.”
While Frampton apologised unnecessarily to his thousands of fans who had crossed seas all over the world to see him, Santa Cruz also offered his own sheepishly. “I did what I had to do. I knew it was going to be another tough fight and like I said, let’s make it a third fight. I always knew how to use my distance and everything. I like to give my fans a great fight. I’m sorry for my fans, but that was the way to beat Frampton. If I had went in, he would have counter-punched me all night.”
Santa Cruz took the first two rounds with relative ease, leaving the Ulsterman unable to correctly measure his distance. Normally such a skilled technician, Frampton’s boxing was negated by Santa Cruz’s intelligence.
Both sets of supporters had expected Santa Cruz to sprint out of the corner ready for war, but he stood by his earlier promise to take a measured approach and use his superior reach. In a city filled with poker faces, Santa Cruz committed the ultimate double bluff. Frampton was unable to counter punch, his normal traps that he sets across the ring were negated by an uncharacteristically patient and measured Leo Santa Cruz.
The master technician Floyd Mayweather jnr was ringside in a testament to how highly both men are now thought of stateside. In the middle rounds, both men stood in the pocket for extended periods delighting both Mexican and Irish sections of the crowd. When Frampton had success with his left hook, he was met by a flurry of combinations from Santa Cruz in response.
The Belfast man grimaced in his corner, not in physical pain, but in frustration that he wasn’t able to execute his plan perfectly.
In the sixth round Frampton finally rocked Santa Cruz with a vicious left hook. The punch swung the fight into a war of attrition. Both men stood and traded, rarely if ever taking a backwards step.
On the rare occasions they did, the Mexican fans booed. The fight truly caught fire and both men responded to the crowd fevered yells by throwing more leather. Santa Cruz’s team had created the perfect blueprint outboxing Frampton, but the Mexican couldn’t resist a brawl in the middle rounds delighting the crowd.
Frampton expressed his annoyance at the later rounds in the fight. A superior counter puncher does not to spend his night’s work chasing his opponent. Frampton spends vast amounts of the year sacrificing his precious time with his beloved family, ensconced in training camps in London and the United States. “I’m extremely disappointed, I’m a winner, I want to win all the time, I’m away for large amounts of the time, I don’t get to see my kinds, I want to win for them.”
Nine and ten had brutal exchanges, with both men taking excessive punishment at times. Despite Frampton’s frequent successes to Santa Cruz’s thin body, the Mexican’s best work came in the latter seconds of the rounds, appealing to the judges and just nicking rounds. Frampton knew that he was down on the scorecards, and he was going into the final two rounds needed at least a knockdown to sway the judge’s pens in his favour.
Frampton and Santa Cruz came together for the final round and hugged warmly. Even in the midst of an attritional war, the men retained their warm mutual respect. Frampton charged out stalking Santa Cruz around the ring. His arms were often incapable of following his brain’s orders to extend with full power. Santa Cruz stayed out of trouble, frequently twisting his red gloves and looking impassively at the Northern Irishman.
The final decision of a majority decision came as little surprise, even to the most ardent of Frampton fans who had spent thousands of dollars following their hero to the strip. Frampton is confident that Santa Cruz will follow through on his promise to seal their trilogy at home in Belfast. “I feel like I’ve been on the road for two years,” a visibly mentally exhausted Frampton said. “I’ve had fans paying a lot of money to follow me, I want to repay them, let’s settle the score in Belfast…Leo can even stay at my house if he wants.”
Two featherweights who are diminutive in stature but huge in character and courage met for a second time in the ring. There could only be one winner and Santa Cruz played his cards perfectly, out thinking and out boxing the normally technically excellent Frampton.
Both men are now inextricably linked and their legacies are intertwined forever. Until they meet again fully gloved, Frampton needs to be at home in Belfast fully rested mentally and physically. The little warrior from Tiger’s Bay apologised profusely again to his fans on leaving the venue, there was no need. He has already given them so much both in body and mind.
