By Scott Gilfoid: Carl Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) won what many people think was a controversial 12 round majority decision over World Boxing Association featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) last Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Former two division world champion Steve Collins thinks that the 29-year-old Frampton may be the best fighter in the featherweight division right now, period. He also thinks that Frampton may be Ireland’s best ever boxer at some point.
“Without a doubt, he can be the best fighter ever to come out of Ireland, and maybe even the best in the world right now – he’s already the best featherweight in the world,” he told The Irish Post.
Is Frampton the best fighter in the featherweight division right now? Nah, I don’t see it that way. For Frampton to be the best fighter in the featherweight division, he would need to clear up the controversy surrounding his win over Santa Cruz from last Saturday, and then turn around and beat Gary Russell Jr, Lee Selby, Oscar Valdez, Joseph Diaz, and Jesus Cuellar.
I personally have Frampton around No.6 at featherweight. I don’t think he can beat some of the talents ranked above him, and I don’t believe he beat Santa Cruz last Saturday. I saw that as poor scoring of the fight.
Here is my top six fighters at featherweight:
1. Oscar Valdez
2. Gary Russell Jr
3. Joseph Diaz
4. Lee Selby
5. Leo Santa Cruz
6. Carl Frampton
Just beating Santa Cruz under controversial circumstances doesn’t make Frampton the No.1 fighter in the featherweight division, at least in my book. That’s like some boxing fans saying Tyson Fury is now the best heavyweight on the planet after beating a past his best Wladimir Klitschko last November. You can certainly say that, but without Fury beating Deontay Wilder, Luis Ortiz, Alexander Povetkin, Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker, Bermane Stiverne and Kubra Pulev, it’s premature to say that he’s the best of anything. A better description of Fury right now is ‘belt holder.’ I see it the same with Frampton. He’s a belt holder in my view, and he’ll continue to be one until he proves that he can beat Santa Cruz again and then defeat Russell Jr, Selby, Cuellar, Diaz and Valdez. If Frampton never chooses to fight those guys, then you have to say he’s not the No.1 fighter in the division. He would have to be labeled as just one of many belt holders in the 126lb division. After all, there is five belt holders at featherweight. What a mess that is. But there’s no way you can say that Frampton is the best after that controversial win over Santa Cruz. Heck, I don’t think Frampton even won his previous fight against Scott Quigg. That was a draw in my view. As such, Frampton’s record in his last two fights is 0-1-1 in my book. That’s not exactly awe inspiring, is it?
“He’s still got around 15 fights left in him and he can go and win a third world title in a bigger weight if he wants to,” said Collins. “Look at the shoulders and the build on him. He can be as good as he wants to be. He’s got the work ethic, the dedication and the right team around him,”
As watered down as the super featherweight division is with their five champions, yeah, I guess Frampton could move up to that weight class to win another world title in his third weight class. I mean, I think Frampton would need to steer clear of WBC champ Francisco Vargas, WBA champ Jezreel Corrales and WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko, because I can’t see him beating any of those guys. But I think Frampton is capable of defeating IBF strap holder Jose Pedraza for what it’s worth. I would hope that if Frampton picked off the weakest of the champions, which is what I feel he did in his fight against Santa Cruz, boxing fans wouldn’t start crowing about Frampton being the No.1 fighter in the super featherweight division. Beating one champion does not mean you’re the best in a weight class. Frampton would still need to prove that he can beat Lomachenko, Corrales and Vargas, which I don’t see as being possible in this lifetime. Those guys have too much T-A-L-E-N-T for Frampton in my opinion.