by David P. Greisman
Carl Frampton had a strategy to beat Leo Santa Cruz, a strategy that was working in the early rounds.
“The game plan was distance control, but to hit him hard and make him get my respect from the start,” Frampton said at the post-fight press conference.
“I think I hurt him in the second round. Although he was throwing a lot of punches, he wasn’t throwing as much as he normally throws. I said that the whole time, once I nail him, the output wasn’t going to be as great. Distance control and punching hard, that was mainly the game plan, and fight when I had to fight.”
Frampton was staying just far enough away from Santa Cruz that Santa Cruz needed to come forward to attack, and Frampton was quick enough to move away. He darted in and out, landing, occasionally exchanging, and taking less damage in return.
But Santa Cruz, who had previously won belts at 118 and 122 and was a titleholder at 126 going into this fight, showed his determination and pedigree, dragging Frampton into more battles. Santa Cruz increased his volume by throwing 1,002 punches over the course of 12 rounds, landing 255. Frampton threw 668 and landed 242. He was more accurate and did enough to win a majority decision and a world title in his second weight class.
One judge had it even at 114-114, while the other two had it 116-112 and 117-111.
“It was the toughest fight of my career,” Frampton said. “But I hope it was an exciting fight. It felt like it was an exciting fight. I though like I’d done enough to win. I think one of the judges maybe had it a little bit wider than it should’ve been. I think I won by two or three rounds. I could’ve made it easier, but I fought with my heart sometimes rather than my head.”
Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com
