Leo Santa Cruz vs. Carl Frampton
Chris Nicastro, Staff Writer
Carl Frampton is coming off of a cagey, boring win against Scott Quigg and Leo Santa Cruz is entering this fight with two drag-out wars in his rear view.
Frampton is the better boxer, but he got hurt time and time again and looked a bit in trouble in the later rounds when Quigg turned up the volume.
And what do we know about Leo Santa Cruz? He’s a windmill. The guy routinely throws over a hundred punches per round without gassing.
I can’t see Frampton dealing with that kind of wildfire. Santa Cruz either stops him or gets a clear decision.
Prediction: Santa Cruz
Shelbi Keyes, Staff Writer
Two undefeated fighters Leo Santa Cruz (32-0- 1, 18 KOs) and Carl Frampton (22-0, 14 KOs) face off this weekend at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for Santa Cruz’s WBA Featherweight title.
Santa Cruz has advantages in both height and reach, which against Abner Mares he proved how he could exploit such an edge. Santa Cruz also does a great job of mixing things up, going to both the head and the body with high volumes of punches.
After throwing combinations he makes sure he gets his hands back into a defensive position, which will help him avoid punishment from Frampton. Santa Cruz is a very accurate puncher and is one of the best at not taking return shots.
Frampton on the other hand, is great at working the ring. He is very quick–he gets in and then gets out of range quickly. Frampton is also exceptional at creating angles, which allows him to set up his attack.
Saturday night Frampton will need to use his double jab to set up his power punches, in hopes to surprise Santa Cruz with his power.
This is a great matchup and it will likely be a very action-packed fight. But, Santa Cruz is a big step up in competition for Frampton; Santa Cruz is taller, longer, and simply the bigger man.
Santa Cruz will use his reach and ability to throw high volumes of punches to dominate in this fight. Santa Cruz will remain undefeated and hold onto his WBA Featherweight title.
Prediction: Santa Cruz
Amber Williams, Photographer
Prediction: Santa Cruz
CJ Halloran, Staff Writer
I honestly am still not 100 percent sure on who will win this fight. It all comes down to game plans.
Carl Frampton has the power to do what Abner Mares couldn’t in his last fight and gain a huge advantage from forcing his way inside and going for broke in the first round.
On the other hand though, Leo Santa Cruz lost the first round, but adjusted very quickly and controlled the rest of the bout when Mares tried this tactic.
If Frampton can work his way inside, I think that he has a far better chance of smothering Santa Cruz’s punches and forcing him to fight his fight. I’m not sure if Santa Cruz would allow that however, as he has established his skill of fighting on the back foot before.
I do not see the bout going without at least one knockdown, but I cannot see this going Frampton’s way if it goes the distance, so I will have to say Santa Cruz wins this fight.
Prediction: Santa Cruz
Brandon Glass, Staff Writer
Leo Santa Cruz is rightfully the favorite in this matchup. Short guys like Carl Frampton usually have an uphill battle against fighters with the significant advantages in reach and height that Santa Cruz has.
Those advantages, coupled with the fact that this is Frampton’s first foray into the featherweight division–for a title no less–definitely presents major adversity for the former unified champion.
You’ve got to love a guy with the balls to step up in weight for a title fight without a preliminary tune up. The things that make Frampton so likable are the reason why he still has a shot.
Frampton’s intestinal fortitude and his athletic style will allow him to use footwork and outside angles that could possibly stagnate the volume-punching of three-time champion, Santa Cruz.
If Frampton can force Santa Cruz to focus on defense more so than coming forward and closing the distance, Frampton could possibly snatch a decision.
It just seems inevitable that the more experienced Santa Cruz, who showed growth from a tactical standpoint in his last fight Abner Mares, and his patented body attack will probably drain the legs from the smaller Frampton making it easier to beat him into submission with a late round stoppage.
Prediction: Santa Cruz
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
This is a great fight between two undefeated fighters and could prove to be in the Fight of the Year mix.
Both have their strengths, but I think the fact that Leo Santa Cruz throws strong punches in bunches all night will be the difference.
Carl Frampton can be bothered by consistent pressure and although I think he might have some early success with his movement and boxer-puncher style, I think Santa Cruz will close the gap make things too fast paced by the middle of the fight.
Santa Cruz will shred any last bit of the “cherry picker” label with a big win over Frampton.
Prediction: Santa Cruz
