Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton former unified WBA and IBF super-bantamweight champion is currently looking ‘phenomenal’ in camp according to his coach Shane McGuigan as he prepares for his upcoming fight with 3 weight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz at the Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on July 30.
They will be competing for Santa Cruz’s WBA (Super) World featherweight belt as Frampton steps up to 126lbs after vacating his super-bantamweight titles.
Preparation appears to be going well besides the occasional back and forth with Twitter trolls at the moment.
Many observers believe Santa Cruz the ‘relentless punching machine’ will be too much for Frampton, however it must not be forgotten that Frampton has answered every question asked of him thus far in his career.
In what was considered his first big test against Kiko Martinez, Frampton came through severe pressure from the Spaniard and caught him with a perfectly placed short right hand to TKO an opponent who had never been stopped previously, winning the European super-bantamweight title in the process.
(Frampton vs Martinez I – hat tip to DaveyBoyEssexUK /Boxing Rd4 YouTube channel for the upload):
In what was considered his second big test against Scott Quigg Frampton, again he showed his power by breaking his opponents jaw with a vicious right uppercut that exploded on Quigg as he attempted to connect with his own left hook.
Although his first trip to the USA didn’t go according to plan against Alejandro Gonzalez Jr, Frampton was dropped twice early on in the bout.
He did however show he could recover from a setback and showed his excellent foot work and counter punching ability to come through on a unanimous decision.
Frampton himself believes Santa Cruz is the perfect fight for him stating in an interview for Sky Sports:
“Santa Cruz is a strong and aggressive undefeated champion, but his style is made for me.”
His promoter and long time mentor former World Champion Barry McGuigan is similarly confident and in the same interview by Michael Kelleher explained:
“It is going to be a tough fight for both men, but I’m very confident that Carl will be able to impose his style on Santa Cruz and win this fight convincingly.”
And so the scene is set for what could well turn out to be one of the most exciting fights of the year, as Frampton attempts to become a two-weight World Champion and move one step closer to fulfilling a destiny that Barry McGuigan believes will see him crowned as:
“The greatest Irish fighter that ever lived.”
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