Lee Selby Wants Frampton vs. Santa Cruz Rematch Winner Next

By Keith Idec

Lee Selby realizes he has been placed on the Carl Frampton-Leo Santa Cruz undercard for a distinct reason.

If the Welsh featherweight wins his fight against Argentina’s Jonathan Barros on Saturday night in Las Vegas, he’ll become an obvious opponent for the Frampton-Santa Cruz winner. Northern Ireland’s Frampton told BoxingScene.com last month that if he defeats Santa Cruz again, he’d like to face Selby in a 126-pound title unification fight at Belfast’s Windsor Park, an outdoor soccer stadium in Frampton’s hometown.

Talk of such a high-profile fight makes focusing on beating Barros (41-4-1, 22 KOs) that much more important for Selby (23-1, 8 KOs), the IBF world featherweight champion.

“It’s a dream for every boxer to fight in Vegas, so it’s great to have this opportunity,” Selby told Skysports.com for a story posted Monday. “But it is important that I shine under the lights. Barros is a former WBA champion, a big puncher with an unorthodox style. I can’t afford to take my eye off the ball. He’s very dangerous and will be coming in as a hungry underdog. It’s his chance to regain a world title, but I’m not going to let that happen.

“The main thing, of course, is to win and after that, look at the different outcomes. If I look good, then I want the winner of Frampton and Santa Cruz. Ideally, I will get that fight and I think that’s why I’m on the show. It’s natural for people to compare the winners of our fights.”

The Selby-Barros bout will be televised live by SHO Extreme, as part of a two-fight telecast scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Selby hopes he beats Barros and can take a seat inside MGM Grand Garden Arena later Saturday night to watch another entertaining battle between Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs), the WBA world featherweight champion, and Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs).

The 29-year-old Selby sat ringside for the first Frampton-Santa Cruz fight, which Frampton won by majority decision July 30 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“The first fight was a brilliant one,” Selby said. “I was at ringside for it and it was pretty even throughout. At the final bell, I couldn’t split them and I think the next fight will be the same, although Santa Cruz might have a slight advantage with it now being [in Las Vegas].”

Selby will be rooting for Frampton to defeat Santa Cruz again.

“Of course, I want Frampton to win as a fellow British fighter, and hopefully we can then get it on down the line,” Selby said. “It’s a super fight and the kind I want to be involved in.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.