Trilogy Talk: It is inevitable after Santa Cruz beats Frampton in rematch
LAS VEGAS –Anybody for a trilogy?
It appears inevitable, a third step in a match of styles, personality and culture between two likeable featherweights who are even after two fights. It was hard to pick the winner in either.
But on the scorecards, Leo Santa Cruz has won one and Carl Frampton has won one. Each by majority decision.
Santa Cruz returned the favor Saturday night at the MGM Grand, winning 115-113 on two scorecards in a rematch of his narrow loss to Frampton last summer in Brooklyn for the WBA’s 126-pound title.
There was plenty of debate about the cards at ringside and in the ring in the bout’s immediate aftermath. There were questions about judge Burt Clements’ 114-114 score. There were arguments that the two-point margin on cards kept by Dave Moretti and Glenn Feldman should have been bigger.
There was consensus only in the middle of the ring. After the scores were announced, Santa Cruz (33-1-1, 18 KOs) and Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) embraced.
“They told each other: ‘Let’s do it again,’ ‘’ promoter Richard Schaefer said after a PBC bout televised by Showtime.
Will a third fight settle anything? Maybe. Maybe, not. Santa Cruz and Frampton always figure to be in fight too close to call. In the second bout, Santa Cruz looked more comfortable, perhaps because his father and trainer, Jose, was back and healthy after a bout with cancer that kept him out his son’s corner last summer.
“Before the fight I said I wanted revenge and I wanted to work hard,’’ Santa Cruz said. “I went to the gym and I worked hard and I did what I had to do.
“Carl Frampton is a good fighter. Let’s make it a third fight.’’
Frampton didn’t argue. Not about Saturday’s result or the call for a second rematch.
“I really think Leo deserved it,’’ Frampton said
“He told me what he was going to do. The brawler was out-boxing the boxer. My fault. I’m sorry. We will have to do it again. We have to do it again.
“He was very clever and he used his reach. I think he deserved it. I’m being honest. I think he deserved it. But it was a very good fight. I think I can perform slightly better. No excuses.
“Let’s do it again.
Santa Cruz was more effective with his punches. His timing looked a little sharper and his defense was as good as perhaps as good as ever. Still, Frampton was always there, changing up on his tactics from round to round, minute to minute.
There were no knockdowns, although Frampton slipped in the fourth. There wasn’t even a moment when either fighter appeared to be in real trouble. Instead, it was tactical, a chess match at almost every turn.
A crowd 10,085, including Floyd Mayweather Jr., loved it. The house sounded as if it was split, 50-50. There were the Irish fans who traveled from Belfast with song, beers and cheers for Frampton. On the other, there were the Mexican and Mexican-Americans who chanted “Leo, Leo.’’
They’ll be back for another go-round. It’s time to order up a trilogy.
Mikey Garcia has always been known for tactical brilliance, versatility and smarts. There’s something else now, too. He’s scary.
The fear factor in Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) struck suddenly and lingered long with a knockout of Dejan Zlaticanin in the third round of a WBC lightweight title fights before the Carl Frampton-Leo Santa Cruz rematch on Showtime Saturday night at the MGM Grand.
Zlaticanin (18-1, 11 KOs) came into the bout with a reputation for dangerous power. He was supposed to be the feared fighter. Turns out, he never had a chance.
After two-plus rounds of controlling pace and distance with a precise jab, Garcia turned him sideways with an uppercut, then stepped around and dropped him with a right that might be remembered 11 months from now as the biggest punch in 2017
Zlaticanin went down, under the bottom ropes, flat on his back and as motionless as a board for several long, scary moments. The ringside physician scrambled to revive him with oxygen through a plastic mask. For Garcia, jubilation at a big victory was suddenly supplanted by concern. He was worried and you could see it in his face.
Finally, Zlaticanin got to his feet and walked out the ring. The crowd was relieved and Garcia said it best with is first post-fight word.
“Thank God, he’s okay,’’ said Garcia, who has more than just ring smarts.
There was patience early and power in the end.
That proved to be the perfect combo for Ukrainian lightweight Ivan Redkach (20-2-1, 16 KOs), who controlled tempo for seven-plus rounds and finished Demond Brock with a lightning bolt of a counter left hand late in the eighth in the final fight on the Showtime Extreme part of the Santa Cruz-Frampton card Saturday night at the MGM Grand.
The left and a subsequent follow-up dropped Brock, who somehow managed to get up. But it was only a matter of time. Make that seconds. Redkach quickly attacked, forcing referee Jay Nady to end at 2:30 of the eighth.
David Benavidez took another step from prospect to contender.
A big one.
Benavidez, the younger brother of former junior-welterweight champion Jose Benavidez Jr., scored a powerful stoppage of Sherali Mamadjanov of Uzbekistan on the Showtime Extreme part of the Frampton-Santa Cruz card Saturday night at the MGM Grand.
Benavidez (17-0, 16 KOs), a super-middleweight from Phoenix, scored a first-round knockdown and then finished Mamadjanov (14-2, 7 KOs) with successive left hands at 1:04 of the second.
Scottish junior-welterweight Josh Taylor stayed unbeaten, yet not perfect.
Taylor, whose reputation for power preceded him, improved to 8-0, yet he had to settle for his first victory without a KO in a unanimous decision over Mexican Alfonso Olvera (8-2-1, 3 KOs), who withstood everything the Scotsman threw at him in the first televised bout on the Showtime Extreme part of the Frampton-Santa Cruz card Saturday at the MGM Grand.
Taylor’s feared left rocked Olvera in the fourth. The Mexican stumbled, but would not fall then or at any other time during the next four rounds.
Ledaun Barthelemy, a Mayweather Promotions prospect from Cuba and the brother of former lightweight champion Rances, continued to show promise, adding another victory to his unbeaten record (12-0, 6 KOs) with a unanimous decision over unknown Jesus Aguinaga (5-5-1) in a six-round featherweight bout.
Jose Santa Cruz was 2-0 Saturday before his son Leo even arrived at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the main event against Carl Frampton.
Jerry Perez, a Jose Santa Cruz-trained featherweight from Harbor City, Calif., needed only 54 seconds to win his pro debut, a three-knocodwon wipeout of overmatched and overwhelmed Javier Cepeda (0-5) of Roswell, New Mexico.
Echoes, empty seats, Herbert Acevedo and Chris Singleton opened the show.
Four hours before the start of a Showtime telecast featuring a Carl Frampton-Leo Santa Cruz rematch at the MGM Grand Saturday, Acevedo, a Los Angeles welterweight, prevailed, winning a six-round unanimous decision over Singleton of Baton Rouge, La.
Acevedo (13-2, 6 KOs) threw a short body shot, flooring Singleton (17-4-2, 8 KOs) in the second round. Singleton got up up and fought through the remaining four-plus rounds, yet could never overcome the early knockdown. The card’s opening bout might have been a good sign for Santa Cruz, whose father and trainer, Jose, was in the corner for Acevedo.
