By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter is picking former three division world champion Leo Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) to beat WBA Super World featherweight Carl Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) in their rematch next Saturday night on January 28 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Like a lot of boxing fans, Porter had Santa Cruz winning their previous fight last July in New York. Porter thought Santa Cruz did enough to deserve the victory. Unfortunately, the three judges that worked the fight felt differently, scoring the fight 114-114, 116-112, and 117-111.
I had Santa Cruz easily winning the fight due to Frampton crumbling under the heavy pressure that he put on him in the second half of the contest. I’ve seen fighters tire out and fall apart before from dealing with heavy pressure, but I’ve never seen someone deteriorate as bad as Frampton did in the last seven rounds of that fight.
Frampton was completely tired from the Golovkin-like pressure that Santa Cruz was putting on him. Santa Cruz just never stopped coming forward, throwing hooks to the body and head, and wearing Frampton out. There was no question which of the two that was the better fighter at the end of the fight. Santa Cruz was definitely the guy that won the fight and finished stronger in my view.
Porter said this to skysports.com about his prediction of Santa Cruz beating Frampton:
“I thought Leo won the first one,” said Porter about Santa Cruz doing the job on Frampton the last time they foguth. “Like my fights with [Keith] Thurman and [Kell] Brook, it was a war. They will box non-stop and it’s hard to pick a winner. Based on the fact that I don’t think either will make big adjustments, I’ll go with Santa Cruz again. I’ll go with the home team. It’s probably going to be extremely narrow because both are fast, with high work-rate and energy.”
I don’t think it’s going to be a narrow win for Santa Cruz next Saturday. I see him royally whipping Frampton in a clinical fashion.
Frampton says he’s going to be better than he was the last time he fought Santa Cruz, and that he’s come up with the perfect game plan to deal for the fight. The only game plan that I can imagine Frampton using that would be effective against Santa Cruz’s pressure fighting is clinching constantly to keep him from working in close.
Frampton doesn’t have the stamina or the inside boxing skills to beat Santa Cruz at close quarters. I don’t care how much training Frampton puts into improving his inside game, he’s not going to be good enough to deal with Santa Cruz on the inside. Santa Cruz has developed his inside game over many years. Frampton has always been a fighter that likes to stay on the outside, and use quick attacks to land his shots.
I think Frampton and his trainer realize that they’re not going to be able to exist on the inside against Santa Cruz. For that reason, I see Frampton choosing to hold all night long each time Santa Cruz gets into close range to start throwing body shots and working him over. Unless the referee does his job by penalizing and eventually disqualifying Frampton for excessive holding, I think we’re going to see him nullify Santa Cruz’s game by grabbing him every time he gets on the inside.
Frampton’s game plan will be just like the one Kell Brook used in beating Porter by a 12 round decision in 2014. If you saw that fight, you’ll remember how Brook grabbed Porter in a clinch when he could come to the inside to throw shots. The referee didn’t do anything to stop Brook from doing this, so he just kept at it for the full 12 rounds and was able to completely nullify Porter’s offense.
In football terms, it was the equivalent of a cornerback grabbing a wide receiver while he was trying run a pass pattern and not letting him run catch a pass from a quarterback. You get penalized for holding in football. In boxing, it’s supposed to be the same way, but it requires that the referee does his job and doesn’t just watch the rule-bending holding take place without doing something about it.
I’m really hoping that Frampton doesn’t resort to excessive holding to try and beat Santa Cruz next Saturday, but that’s about all I can see him doing to win the fight. If Santa Cruz takes the fight to the inside against Frampton from round 1 instead of round 6 like last time, then he easily beats him. That’s why I see Frampton choosing to use nonstop holding to keep Santa Cruz from being able to work on the inside.
World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman upset with Angel Garcia for language used at Danny Garcia – Keith Thurman press conference
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman is highly upset with Angel Garcia, the trainer for WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia (33-0, 19 KOs), for his use of harsh language during the Garcia vs. Keith Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) press conference. The press conference was to attract interest in the Garcia-Thurman fight on March 4 on Showtime Boxing on CBS from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
While Thurman was speaking at the podium, Angel took issue with some of the things he was saying about his son Danny. Instead of just staying quiet to let Thurman have his say, Angel used the N-word as well as other expletives aimed at him. Thurman stayed calm during Angel’s outburst. However, the next thing that happened was Angel going after Thurman and needing to be held back by the team members. It looked like Angel had lost control of his temper. Overall, Angel’s comments seemed to take away from the event. The press conference was an interesting one until Angel started swearing at Thurman.
For the future Garcia-Thurman press conferences, Angel doesn’t start swearing again, because it’s a real buzz-kill listening to foul language at media events.
Here’s Sulaiman’s statement on Angel Garcia’s behavior:
“The WBC is extremely concerned with the behavior and actions showcased by Mr. Angel Garcia, who is the trainer of WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia, during the press conference for the highly anticipated fight between Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman,” said Sulaiman. “The WBC prides itself for its battle against apartheid in which South Africa was banned from boxing for 19 years and our constant rejection to any sort of discrimination and abuse of power. The WBC condemns the foul language, the discriminatory threats and the very dangerous actions which could have led to a riot and personal injuries during this presentation. The WBC has no jurisdiction over licensing of trainers, which is a matter that corresponds to the local boxing authorities, however, the WBC Code of Ethics and Constitution, Rules and Regulations, reject emphatically these actions, which cannot be tolerated in our sport. The WBC respects and has always enjoyed a very respectful relation with Mr. Angel Garcia in the past and the WBC will hold a meeting in person or by teleconference next week through the WBC administrative process and protocol. Boxing is a sport of contact, but it is a noble one and fighters are role models for the youth of the world with countless exemplary actions of fair play, respect, unity, humanity and brotherhood. Garcia vs. Thurman is a very important fight between two undefeated champions, which brings the best of our sport and the attention must be fully into this great event and the two fighters putting their future on the line.
Mauricio Sulaiman
WBC President