By Tim Royner: Carl Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) and Horacio Garcia (33-3-1, 24 KOs) both weighed in at 127 pounds on Friday for their clash this Saturday night at The SSE Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Frampton, 30, is motivated to get back on the winning track after losing his last bout against Leo Santa Cruz by a 12 round majority decision on January 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Frampton wants to look good in beating Garcia, 27, on Saturday night, and then go from there to either fight a rematch with Santa Cruz or look to face the winner of the Lee Selby vs. Josh Warrington fight.
It’s unlikely that Frampton will get a fight with Santa Cruz anytime soon, because he wants that match to take place in Belfast. Santa Cruz’s father/trainer isn’t agreeable to having his son Leo travel to the UK to fight Frampton over there.
IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (27-1-1, 18 KOs0 weighed in at the limit at 115 pounds for his voluntary title defense against unbeaten Jamie Conlan (19-0, 11 KOs), who also weighed in at 115lbs. Ancajas vs. Conlan could very well wind being the best fight of the card. It’s a competitive match-up on paper, unlike the main event between Frampton and Garcia, which figures to be a one-sided slaughter.
Conlan, 31, is going to be going all out to try and score a stoppage of the younger, faster and more powerful Ancajas. What Conlan has on his side is the crowd. His Irish boxing fans will be rooting for him, and motivating him to fight hard.
If Conlan can take the fight the full distance, he might luck out and get a decision. If Conlan can make the rounds close, he’ll have a good chance of getting a win, given that he’s the home fighter. Never the less, Conlan has his work cut out for him. Ancajas is the better fighter on paper, and the younger guy as well. It’s going to take a really special performance by Conlan for him to pull off the upset.
This will be the third defense for the 25-year-old Ancajas for his IBF 115lb. title. He’s looked good since winning the belt last year in defeating McJor Arroyo by a 12 round unanimous decision. In Ancajas’ 2 title defenses, he’s beaten Jose Alfredo Rodriguez and Teiru Kinoshita by 7th round stoppages.
WBO bantamweight champion Zolani Tete (25-3-2, 20 KOs) weighed 117.5 lbs. for his title defense against #3 WBO Siboniso Gonya (11-1, 5 KOs). For his part, Gonya weighed in at 116lbs. Gonya hasn’t fought a lot for him to be given such a high ranking with the World Boxing Organization. Gonya’s ranking seems s a little high for a fighter with just 12 fights under his belt. This will be the first defense for the 29-year-old Tete.
