Carl Frampton: I’ll give Gervonta Davis a tougher fight than Santa Cruz

By Boxing News - 08/16/2020 - Comments

By Max Seitelman: Carl Frampton isn’t giving Leo Santa Cruz any chance of beating Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis when they meet on October 24, and he says he would provide Tank a better fight.

Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs) could be right about giving Tank a tougher fight right now than Leo, given the punching power he showed last Saturday night in stopping Darren Traynor in the seventh round.

At 33, Frampton is showing more power now than ever before when he was campaigning at 122 and 126.

Davis is looking flabby

Frampton doubts that Gervonta (23-0, 22 KOs) will be able to make the 130-pound limit for his match against WBA super featherweight champion Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) next October on Showtime pay-per-view at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Carl is predicting that Tank, 25, will weight in at 135 pounds for the Santa Cruz fight. With two titles on the line for the Santa Cruz fight on October 24, Gervonta won’t lose his WBA ‘regular’ lightweight belt if he misses weight. He won’t have a shot at winning Santa Cruz’s WBA 130-lb belt, which isn’t essential to Davis.

Even if Tank does win Santa Cruz’s WBA super featherweight belt, he’s expected to give it up immediately rather than holding onto the belt. As heavy as Tank Davis is, it would be a grueling situation for him to try and hold onto both titles.

Image: Carl Frampton: I'll give Gervonta Davis a tougher fight than Santa Cruz

In training video this week, Davis is still looking thick around his midsection despite having started training a month.

The good news is the 25-year-old Gervonta still has two months to shed the extra poundage to try and get down to the 130lb weight limit. However, if Tank misses the weight, he’ll need to pay a substantial weight penalty likely, but he’s wealthy enough to afford it.

Frampton beat Santa Cruz by a 12 round majority decision four years ago in July 2016 in their first fight in July 2016.

Although Carl lost their rematch by a narrow 12 majority decision in January 2017, it was a close enough contest to where a lot of boxing fans felt that he deserved the win. If the same fight had taken place in a different venue, it’s possible that Frampton would have won.

Frampton doubts Davis will make weight

“Yeah, he’s a superstar,” said Frampton to IFL TV on Gervonta Davis. “Someone brought his name up, and I said, ‘I think it would be a very tough fight.’ I don’t think he’s a super featherweight, and I don’t think he’s going to do super featherweight for this fight.

“I think he’s going to come in at 135, and that’s why two titles are on the line.

“What I did say is I’d give him [Tank Davis] a better fight than Santa Cruz, and I believe that. Yes, he will,” said Frampton when asked if Tank Davis will beat Santa Cruz.

Image: Carl Frampton: I'll give Gervonta Davis a tougher fight than Santa Cruz

It won’t be a big deal if Davis does fail to make weight for the Santa Cruz fight because he can pay the penalty, and then use the extra weight to win.

Boxing fans won’t hold it against Davis if he fails to make the 130lb limit, because that’s no longer his average weight at this point in his career.

Suppose Frampton beats WBO super middleweight champion Jamel Herring (21-2, 10 KO in November, then a logical match to make would be against Tank Davis. Ideally, it would be great if Davis does make weight for his fight with Santa Cruz on October 24, and then he beats him.

Assuming Davis and Frampton both win their next fights, then a unification match between them would be possible at 130. They could make good money in that contest.

It would be an excellent option for Tank while he waits for other exciting matches against the likes of Miguel Berchelt, Shakur Stevenson, or Oscar Valdez at 130.

Carl got some good rounds in against Traynor

“I got some rounds. If I had a chance to hit him in the first round and take him out, I would have gone that,” said Frampton on his win over Traynor.

“I was going through some motions at times. I felt like my jab was OK in patches. I’ll need to be a lot better for Jamel Herring, but it was rounds. My hands are good, and I got the win.

Image: Carl Frampton: I'll give Gervonta Davis a tougher fight than Santa Cruz

“I didn’t feel the size difference. I’m used to boxing guys bigger than me. I’ve done that my whole career since I was an amateur. It’s nothing new to me,” said Frampton.

It’s going to be a lot harder for Frampton to handle the size of Jamel Herring n November because he’s got the size of Traynor (16-4, 7 KOs), but with a lot more talent.

Frampton looked sloppy against Traynor in the first five rounds, and he wasn’t as impressive as he’d been in the past. Carl can’t afford to start slowly against Jamel if he wants to beat him.

Frampton’s body punching has improved

“He was lying flat on his stomach, and I was thinking, ‘He’s not getting up,’ and then he got up. I thought, ‘God.’ I thought there was a little bit more time left, but then the bell went straightaway,” said Frampton about his opponent Traynor.

“Then I was conscious not to go the body straightaway in the next round because I knew he was waiting on it. I was trying to look for different shots to finish him off.

“The body shot that I landed was a good one. I hurt him a few times with body shots. I could hear a few winces and a few noises. And I knew I was getting him to the body.

“That’s something I’ve improved on a lot. My body punching is great. My last opponent, I would have stopped him if my hands were OK. I stopped Darren Traynor with body shots. I stopped Luke Jackson with a body shot. So my body punching has come on by leaps and bounds.,” said Frampton.

Frampton’s body punching could be critical for him against Herring, as he’s not fought a lot of opposition that goes to the body like Carl.

YouTube video

Herring has fought mostly head-hunters during his career, and it’ll be a new experience if Frampton tries to wear him down wit sots to the midsection.

Jamel Herring is next for Carl

“I was talking about it before this fight because everybody was asking me the question,” said Frampton about him fighting Herring next. “Jamel Herring fight is the one for me.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ll need to be a lot better, but I’ll find a way. I’m confident I can find a way to win the fight. I want to be the first one [to win three-division world titles]. I represented Ireland as an amateur, and I was very proud to do so.

“And I want to be the first-ever three-weight world champion. That’s what I want to do. I’m very confident about what I’ve done in my career. This would be the icing on the cake. It’ll probably be my ticket into the Hall of Fame as well, so it’ll be nice,” Frampton said.

Herring still needs to defeat Jonathan Oquendo on September 5 before he can turn his attention to defending against Frampton in November. Oquendo is a tough opponent, and he might be able to beat Herring.