Frampton Ready For Santa Cruz: If I Land Right, It's Over
Carl Frampton is now turning his attention to a blockbuster showdown with Mexican superstar Leo Santa Cruz. The Belfast bulldog blew out hardened Mexican Hugo Cazares in the second round of their WBC super bantamweight final eliminator from the sold out Odyssey Arena in Belfast.
The 27-year-old Frampton, however, is confident in his punching prowess, having stopped 13 of his 18 opponents, and is sure that he can blow any of them away, starting with Cazares.
"I genuinely believe I'm the hardest punching super-bantamweight in the world," said Frampton. "I think I can stop any of these guys if I hit them on the chin. And, actually, walking through the divisions, I think I could stop anyone from up to featherweight or super featherweight.
"Without blowing my own trumpet, I've got very, very heavy hands and it's just about landing the shots and landing the clean shots. Sometimes, when I fight I like to fight at a relaxed pace when I could've got rid of opponents a few rounds sooner. But that's something as well that we've been working on, trying to fight at a higher pace.
Golden Boy Promotions, who look after Santa Cruz, were in attendance for Friday night's bout, with a Frampton clash likely to generate huge interest either side of the Atlantic according to manager Barry McGuigan.
"I absolutely believe that [we're on the cusp of seeing a new sports star] and I believe he can be a crossover star," said former world champion McGuigan.
"What's more, I don't just mean to the general public, I mean across the Atlantic. I think he can be a big star in America too. And having an Irish background as well is going to help him enormously."
The United States, particularly the West Coast, where the 25-year-old Santa Cruz - who is unbeaten in 28 contests with 15 knockouts - has fought regularly, would be the favourite location to host the fight.
McGuigan, though, is unfazed where the fight is held and is confident his young charge will be just too much for the reigning champion.
"There's no guarantee that we'd be able to get it in Belfast," said McGuigan. "But either way, we feel Carl has a great chance against Santa Cruz and we are very comfortable about that fight.
"We're happy to travel but we'd much prefer to be at home. The problem is getting an arena big enough, because Carl sold the place out in 10 days. I reckon we could have sold 15,000 for this one and we could certainly sell 20,000 for Santa Cruz."
