Frampton vs. Santa Cruz rematch likely for summer 2017

By Boxing News - 07/31/2016 - Comments

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(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME) By Patrick McHugh: Newly crowned WBA featherweight champion Carl Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) and Leo Santa Cruz (31-1-1, 18 KOs) likely won’t be facing each other until the summer of 2017, according to the manager of Frampton Barry McGuigan. We don’t know yet if there’s going to be a rematch. Frampton beat Santa Cruz by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114.

While the LA Times writer Lance Pugmire talked about there being a rematch clause, it might not be so. Dan Rafael is saying that Frampton’s manager Barry McGuigan is saying there isn’t a rematch clause.

Without a rematch clause, Frampton is free to fight whoever he likes for his next fight unless the World Boxing Association presses for him to fight the #1 Carlos Zambrano. He’s not considered a dangerous guy, so even if the WBA were to make a move like that, it wouldn’t be a worrisome thing for Frampton.

“Per Frampton manager @ClonesCyclone, there is no official rematch clause in their contract but he said they are happy to have 1 next summer,” said Rafael on his Twitter.

This means that we probably won’t be seeing Frampton and Santa Cruz fight each other again until next year. The fight that Frampton made a point of mentioning at the post-fight press conference last night was a unification match against IBF champion Lee Selby, who was at the fight watching along with WBC champion Gary Russell Jr. A fight against Selby would be a big fight in the UK, and it makes sense for Frampton to take this one because it’s a winnable one.

It’s also a fight that will help increase his own popularity worldwide by showing fans that he’s the main guy in the division. Even if Frampton does beat Selby, he would still need to beat WBC champion Gary Russell Jr, and WBO belt holder Oscar Valdez to temporarily put him at the No.1 spot. Beating all of those guys will be tough because they’re more solid fighters than Santa Cruz. There’ also unbeaten contender Joseph Diaz and WBA “regular” champion Jesus Cuellar that would need to be dealt with by Frampton.

Frampton definitely is not without options for his next fight in 2016. He can also fight a rematch with Scott Quigg. Frampton defeated Quigg by a 12-round decision earlier this year in February in a fight that proved to be just as tough as the Santa Cruz fight was. It’s likely that Frampton won’t want to take the fight with Quigg yet, because there’s money to be made in facing Selby.