McGuigan wants Santa Cruz rematch, believes Frampton can KO him
Shane McGuigan wants Carl Frampton’s next bout to be a rematch of his Fight of the Year contender with Leo Santa Cruz.
‘The Jackal’ defeated Santa Cruz in a barnstormer on Saturday in New York to win the WBA.featherweight crown, in the process becoming one of the biggest names in World boxing.
‘El Terremoto’ would like a rematch, while IBF champion Lee Selby wants an immediate unification. Frampton himself would like a Belfast homecoming.
Frampton’s trainer however wants Santa Cruz again, and the 27 year old told Steve Bunce on Boxnation’s Bunce’s Boxing Hour that “what I would like to see happen is an immediate rematch with Santa Cruz before the end of the year so Carl can enjoy Christmas.”
“Then a fight around St Patrick’s Day before a big fight in the summer in Belfast which could be the fight with Selby.”
“I believe that Carl would beat Santa Cruz again and he could even stop him next time. Carl knows what Santa Cruz is about so I think he could be even better next time.”
“In the first six rounds of the fight I could see just how much impact his punches were having on Santa Cruz, every time he landed the left hook Santa Cruz’s leg buckled.
“He fought Santa Cruz at his own game, up close and got the better of him. It was fantastic.”
The young coach, who also handles the careers of Conrad Cummings, Josh Taylor, Josh Pritchard, David Haye, and George Groves, feels that Frampton was grossly underated ahead of the bout at the Barclays Centre. McGuigan explained how “I couldn’t believe how much the American media didn’t give him a chance – they were only judging him on the fight last year in El Paso with Alejandro Gonazalez.”
“But we knew that wasn’t the real Carl and the move up in weight has made a big difference.”
“The fight was certainly the most exciting fight I’ve been involved with and now the Americans have really taken to him.”
“In his last two fights Carl has won two world title belts and become a two-weight world champion – he’s now pound for pound the most exciting and the best fighter in the UK.”
