Leo Santa Cruz Very Confident, Already Eyeing Frampton Trilogy

By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Leo Santa Cruz is seeing triple.

The California-based Mexican is coming off the first loss of a decade-long career and is still days away from a chance at revenge, but the idea of a rubber match has already crossed his mind.

He’ll meet conqueror Carl Frampton on Saturday in Las Vegas with designs on taking back the WBA featherweight title belt that the Northern Irishman wrested via majority decision last July. And if things go well at the MGM Grand, a short trip west or a much longer jaunt east may reach his agenda.

“It depends on how this fight looks, but no matter how I beat him – if I beat him easy or not – if Carl Frampton wants a rematch I’ll be happy to give him the rematch,” Santa Cruz said.

“If the fans want it, if it’s a great fight, I’m happy no matter what. Because he gave me the rematch, I’ll be happy to give him the rematch. As long as the promoters come up with an agreement and if they make the fight over in Ireland or in California, wherever. No matter, as long as it happens, I’ll be happy to give it to him.”

Frampton earned scores of 116-112 and 117-111 from two judges in the initial meeting while the third saw it dead even at 114 apiece.

My card matched the latter, giving each man six of the 12 rounds.

Nevertheless, the verdict ended Santa Cruz’s 33-fight unbeaten streak, and the ex-champion – who’ll turn 30 in February – said he began strategically pining for a rematch within minutes of Jimmy Lennon Jr.’s official announcement.

“It wasn’t until after the fight was over,” he said. “I knew that I was fighting his height and I wasn’t using my reach. I was leaning in there with him and banging, brawling, and he had the advantage because he’s a lot shorter than me. If we fight inside, his arms are shorter and his hands get there before, so my thing I have to do is use my reach from the outside because I’m longer and my hands are going to get there faster. That’s what I realized, right after the fight.”

Santa Cruz recently sat down to discuss changes in his tactics, the impact of the loss on his mindset and his plans for a post-Frampton future.  

BoxingScene.com: For the first time in your career, you’re fighting a guy who’s beaten you. Because of that, do you walk in the ring thinking different things than you did the first time around?

Santa Cruz: Yes. It was my first fight in which I got a defeat and I know I made mistakes and I know the mistakes I made. I wish I could take back time and do better than those mistakes, because I thought right away that I could have improved them or done a lot better, but it was already too late. When I got the rematch I swore that I’d do everything perfect and be smarter and when it comes to the mistakes I made, improve them and not make them anymore.

BoxingScene.com: When you go back and think about the fight or look at it, what is the first thing that jumps out at you and makes you say, “I wish I would have done this?” What is the first mistake that pops into your head?

Santa Cruz: The mistake I made was staying there and fighting his fight. I was fighting his height, I was lunging in. I think I could have used my distance and kept him on the outside and been a lot quicker with my feet and faster with my hands. I was throwing 1-2 and I was staying there with him, but what I think I have to do is throw 1-2-3 and then use my distance, stay on the outside and not let him catch me with those big shots.

BoxingScene.com: We talked about him going into the first fight and you were familiar with him. Once you got in the ring with him, was there anything that he did or didn’t do that surprised you or that was different from what you’d expected coming in?

Santa Cruz: What surprised me about him was his footwork, and he was just waiting for me to throw 1-2 and then he took a step back and counterpunched me. He was just waiting for me to throw punches and he was counterpunching. I was lunging in. I was fighting his fight and he was catching me with those shots. It was too late when I realized he was doing that. It was frustrating. He got me of my game and I didn’t relax until I was in the later rounds. But you learn from your mistakes and it had to happen to get me to wake up and get determined to do a lot better. That’s what happened to me.

BoxingScene.com: When you watched videos or saw him live before the fight, was he not doing the things against other guys that he ultimately did against you? Or did you not pay enough attention to it?

Santa Cruz: I thought he was going to come and brawl with me. I thought he was going to try and exchange punches with me. I thought he wasn’t going to move as much. With Alejandro Gonzalez (one year earlier), he was going forward, he was the aggressor. He was chasing Gonzalez and he was going toe to toe with him. I thought he was going to do the same thing and he was going to try to hurt me. So I said, I’m going to stay there with him, too, but I never thought he was going to counterpunch that good or move that good.

BoxingScene.com: So you’d seen him fight a lot as the aggressor. Now you’ve been in with him when he did something different. Do you think you’re adequately prepared for whatever strategy he might decide to come with this time around?

Santa Cruz: Yes. We’ve been practicing in the gym for whatever strategy he has. We’re going to adapt to it. From the first round, we’re going to go and do our work. We’re going to put pressure on him. We’re going to do what we studied. But if he changes it up or it’s not working, we can adjust and change the strategy and fight him in a different way. We’re going to go and be prepared to fight him in any way. However he fights, were going to adapt and find a way to fight him so we get a win.

BoxingScene.com: Talk about going into a fight now that you’re no longer unbeaten. Does it change the way you think about the fight? Does it change your intensity? Is there anything different about you as a one-loss fighter from what you were as an unbeaten fighter?

Santa Cruz: I still feel the same, like the loss is not there. I think I won. I’m still the same fighter. The only thing is that I don’t have that 0. He gave me that first loss and I want to avenge that first loss and I want to give everything I’ve got and use everything in my hands to get that revenge and get the victory against Carl Frampton. Doing that will be like erasing that first loss. But I don’t feel worse because I’m not undefeated. Even the best lose. It a matter of time. That first loss is going to come. The loss came against a great fighter, but nothing happened to me. As long as I have the support of the fans, that’s all I want. I want to go out there and give great fights for the fans, so it doesn’t matter if I have a loss or not.

BoxingScene.com: You’d talked before first fight about moving up and how you thought you could carry weight all the up to 135 or 140 pounds. Is that still a plan? If you win decisively, is this your last fight at featherweight, or would you consider staying around there no matter what the result is?

Santa Cruz: No matter what the result is, I still want to fight at featherweight maybe two more times. Hopefully we get the win and we’d want maybe a third fight or maybe to unify against Lee Selby, Gary Russell or Oscar Valdez. Then, once I do a third fight or unify one time – or maybe a rematch against Abner Mares; any of those fights in no matter what order – that’s when I want to move up in weight. Not because I have to, but because my goal is to win another title in a different weight class. That’s the only reason I would do it, to win a title at 130.

* * * * * * * * * *

This week’s title-fight schedule:

WEDNESDAY
WBC minimum title – Phitsanulok, Thailand
Wanheng Menayothin (champion/No. 3 IWBR) vs. Melvin Jerusalem (No. 11 WBC/No. 19 IWBR)
Menayothin (44-0, 17 KO): Sixth title defense; Eight of 17 career KOs in 12-round fights (17-0, 8 KO)
Jerusalem (11-0, 7 KO): First title fight; First fight outside the Philippines
Fitzbitz says: The challenger has youth aplenty. But he’s fighting a not-so-old champion who arrives with a home-turf advantage and a huge edge in quality of opposition. Not yet, kid. Menayothin by decision

SATURDAY
IBF featherweight title – Las Vegas, Nevada
Lee Selby (champion/No. 3 IWBR) vs. Jonathan Barros (No. 1 IBF/No. 16 IWBR)
Selby (23-1, 8 KO): Third title defense; Second fight outside the United Kingdom (1-0, 0 KO)
Barros (41-4-1, 22 KO): Seventh title fight (3-3); Held WBA title at 126 (2010-11, two defenses)
Fitzbitz says: Selby is certainly angling for an all-UK summit with Carl Frampton, and he’s got prime placement on the card with a chance to prove his worth. Says here that he will. Selby by decision

WBA featherweight title – Las Vegas, Nevada
Carl Frampton (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Leo Santa Cruz (No. 2 WBA/No. 2 IWBR)
Frampton (23-0, 14 KO): Second title defense; Defeated Santa Cruz (MD 12) in July 2016
Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KO): Thirteenth title fight (11-1); Eighth fight in Las Vegas (7-0, 4 KO)
Fitzbitz says: I’ve been a Frampton guy since the first time I saw him, but I outsmarted myself when it came to picking a winner when these two met the first time. Not again. Frampton by decision

WBC lightweight title – Las Vegas, Nevada
Dejan Zlaticanin (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Mikey Garcia (No. 2 WBC/Unranked IWBR)
Zlaticanin (22-0, 15 KO): First title defense; Third fight in the United States (2-0, 2 KO)
Garcia (35-0, 29 KO): Fifth title fight (4-0); Held WBO titles at 126 and 130 pounds
Fitzbitz says: I know he’s been inactive. I know he’s got no track record at lightweight. But I also know he’s one of the world’s best fighters and I won’t believe he can lose until I see it. Garcia in 9

WBC super featherweight title -- Indio, California
Francisco Vargas (champion/No. 2 IWBR) vs. Miguel Berchelt (No. 7 WBC/No. 22 IWBR)
Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KO): Second title defense; Fifth fight in California (3-0-1, 1 KO)
Berchelt (30-1, 27 KO): First title fight; Sixteen straight wins by stoppage (56 total rounds)
Fitzbitz says: It’s probably safe to pencil this one in for 2017’s fight of the year discussion, and it’s equally safe to figure Vargas will hit the deck at least once. But he always seems to rally. Vargas in 10

SUNDAY
IBF junior bantamweight title -- Macao, China
Jerwin Ancajas (champion/No. 8 IWBR) vs. Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (No. 14 IBF/No. 61 IWBR)
Ancajas (25-1-1, 16 KO): First title defense; Fifth fight in China (4-0, 3 KO)
Rodriguez (32-4, 19 KO): Second title fight (0-1); Three straight wins since a 1-4 stretch
Fitzbitz says: There may not be huge fervor for the champ, but when you consider his foe has beaten three guys with a combined 29-21-3 mark since going 1-3, it’s easier to pick him. Ancajas by decision

Last week's picks: None
2017 picks record: 2-0 (100 percent)
Overall picks record: 828-274 (75.1 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.