By Keith Idec
Carl Frampton felt a dramatic difference in his body during his first featherweight fight in more than five years.
Frampton was less energetic and weaker when he had to struggle to make the 122-pound limit, but he felt fresh and strong during his 12-round, majority-decision victory over Leo Santa Cruz five months ago. The unbeaten WBA world featherweight champion, who’s training for their January 28 rematch, doesn’t think he would’ve been able to fend off the relentless Santa Cruz if the weight limit for their July 30 fight was 122 pounds, rather than the featherweight maximum of 126.
“I felt great,” Frampton told BoxingScene.com. “I don’t think I could’ve fought at that pace at 122 pounds. Making that weight was taking away from me and how I was performing. But at 126, again it was my first fight, and now I know I can do it. I know that I can empty the tank and I can fight at a flattering pace. And I feel like I can take a better shot at 126 as well. And this is my second time at the weight, and I believe that I’m only gonna get better.”
According to unofficial CompuBox statistics, Frampton hit Santa Cruz with 242-of-668 overall punches in their 12-rounder, 13 fewer than Santa Cruz landed (255-of-1,002). CompuBox credited Frampton with connecting on more power punches (206-of-463) than Santa Cruz (191-of-551), but fewer jabs (64-of-451 to 36-of-205).
Northern Ireland’s Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) expects similar relentlessness from Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) throughout their rematch January 28 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (Showtime). Frampton figures he is more prepared to deal with Santa Cruz’s style in their rematch, though, and will try to take better advantage of the instances when he stuns Santa Cruz.
“His work rate is something that I’ve never come up against before,” Frampton said. “You look at his previous fights, and he fights the same way all the time. So I knew it was gonna be a difficult night and he was gonna keep coming and throw a lot of shots. He’s a very, very intense fighter, and he’s non-stop. Looking back at it, there were a couple times in the fight when I stiffened his legs up. I knew I did it visibly in the second round, but there were another few instances in the fight where I kind of stiffened his legs up. But I didn’t notice it in the fight. He’s got, you know, this sort of stone face. He smiled. He’s always got a smile on his face and it’s hard to tell when he’s hurt.
“There’s things that I can do different to make the fight, not easier – well, I don’t think it’s ever gonna be an easy fight against Leo, but to win it more convincingly. There’s things that I can kinda do in my game plan, and that I’m working on now in the gym. I’m sparring how I feel I’m gonna fight. And if I can pull it off, I feel I can win the fight more convincingly.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
