By Keith Idec

Leo Santa Cruz stands 2½ inches taller than Carl Frampton and owns a seven-inch reach advantage over him.

But now that they’ve met the 126-pound limit for their featherweight title fight Saturday night, Santa Cruz expects Frampton to add more weight than him and enter the ring the heavier fighter. Northern Ireland’s Frampton (22-0, 14 KOs) will make his debut as a full-fledged featherweight when he challenges Santa Cruz (32-0, 18 KOs), but the 5-feet-5 former IBF/WBA super bantamweight champion has acknowledged his significant struggles in recent years to meet the 122-pound limit.

“Frampton was saying he couldn’t make 122,” Santa Cruz told BoxingScene.com. “He’ll probably be a little bit bigger than me. He’s a little bit stockier and he says he feels a lot stronger at 126. That’s what I want. I don’t want him to say he felt weak at 126, that he didn’t feel good. He’s saying he feels stronger and everything.

“I think on fight night I’ll be 131, 132. Frampton probably will be a little bigger, probably about 135, because I think he puts on weight really fast. Me, I don’t really put on weight that quickly. But I feel strong at 126. I feel good and Frampton says he does, too. I think it’s gonna be a very equal fight, a very good fight, and may the best man win.”

Santa Cruz, the WBA super world featherweight title-holder, and Frampton both weighed in at 125½ pounds Friday.

Though the 5-7½ Santa Cruz’s height and reach are obvious advantages, the three-division champion from Rosemead, California, figures his preference for brawling will prohibit him from putting those edges to the best use during their scheduled 12-rounder at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (Showtime; 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).

“Frampton’s shorter and his arms are shorter, so if I want to I could just keep him on the outside, instead of coming in,” said Santa Cruz, who'll partake in his fourth featherweight fight. “But, you know, I love to please the fans. I like to give them a war. I’m probably gonna stay there and bang with him. But if that isn’t working, we could always box him, too. We could use the jab, one-two, keep him on the outside and just keep him moving like that, rather than come in with those big punches.”

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.