CARL FRAMPTON could potentially box before the end of the year, with a rematch with Leo Santa Cruz most likely being his next fight.
Frampton’s trainer Shane McGuigan said, “I think we’ve just got to wait for TV really and the venue. I think we’ll have some news soon. It’s looking more like it’s going to be a Santa Cruz rematch. I want that fight. I want him to fight Santa Cruz in a rematch but I don’t see Santa Cruz coming over here because he said Frampton had home advantage with the judges [even though they boxed in New York]. He’s from Belfast.”
Shane continued, “The whole build up [to the first fight] was strange. Everyone thought Dad [Barry McGuigan] was training him. ‘Who’s the kid? He must just be the conditioning dude.’ But it was nice. There was no pressure on Carl, there was no pressure on me in the build up. Obviously we knew we were in for hard fight. We knew what was ahead of us. But I’d been calling for Santa Cruz for a long time. I just think that sort of style of fight suits Carl.”
McGuigan actually expected Frampton to knock out the Mexican. “I thought he’d have gone, to be honest. I thought Carl would be able to knock him out. But I think if we get him in the return I’m confident Carl can knock him out. Carl hit him clean a few times but a lot of the time they were diffused by Santa Cruz’s arms. He’s got a very tight defence. He hit Frampton flush, 15, 20 times, clean on the chin. Never budged Carl once. So Carl can go into the next fight with a lot of confidence,” Shane said.
