(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME) By Scott Gilfoid: Carl Frampton (22-0 14 KOs) has given up his IBF/WBA super bantamweight world titles in order to move up to 126 to challenge WBA Super World featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (32-0-1, 18 KOs) this month on July 30 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Frampton, 29, thinks he’s been sacrificing power by draining down to fight at 122 at super bantamweight. Now that he’s moved up to featherweight at 126, he thinks he’ll have more punching power than he did in the past. I don;’t know about that.
Frampton’s problems in his fights against Scott Quigg and Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. had more to do with his inability to stand his ground and take heavy shots. Gonzalez Jr. dropped Frampton twice in their fight last year and also hurt him in the 9th.
Quigg had Frampton looking tired and had him on the run in the entire second half of the fight. Frampton wasn’t getting hurt and retreating for lack of punching power. He was backing off because he couldn’t handle it. Frampton can dish it out, but he doesn’t take the punishment too well, does he?
“Moving up to 126 pounds was definitely the right decision for me. I’m a big puncher but I lost power coming down to 122 pounds. I’m going to be punching harder and be at my very best,” said Frampton.
Former Champ & Brooklyn-native @PaulMalignaggi gave Irish star @RealCFrampton an official New York welcoming today. pic.twitter.com/jrV0cPWVkw
— PBC (@premierboxing) July 7, 2016
Frampton kind of sounds like Amir Khan with the way he was jabbering about how he would be a better fighter when he moved up to 140, 147 and finally 155. Each time that Khan would move up, he would talk about the new weight class being better for him and his punching power. Unfortunately, it never worked out in Khan’s favor, as he struggled each time he moved up and experienced the same problems he had in the division he had left. I see the same thing happening with Frampton. He’s going to have a heck of a hard time trying to take Santa Cruz’s big punches and his hard jab without getting hurt and resorting to running around the ring all night in order to avoid getting nailed by the Mexican warrior.
It looks so ugly when Frampton runs around the ring. I just hope he doesn’t do that in this fight because it’ll be bad for the fans and for Frampton. Unlike in his last fight against Quigg, I don’t see Frampton getting the benefit of the doubt from the judges.
“I’m right on the door step of everything. I’m so excited for fight night; it’s going to be a truly special experience,” said Frampton. “It’s important to be recognized in the States. This is where all of the great fighters from around the world end up fighting, and I really want to be recognized as a great fighter.”
Well, I do agree with Frampton about it being important to be recognized in the U.S, because this is definitely the place where a lot of the great fighters are. Unfortunately, I think Frampton picked the wrong opponent for his first fight at featherweight.
I think Frampton should have eased his way into the division by taking on a soft job or two before looking to fight the best in the division in Santa Cruz. It’s brave what Frampton is doing, but also really stupid.