WBC super-bantamweight world champion Leo Santa Cruz has opened the door to a potential blockbuster showdown with Irish sensation Carl Frampton.
The Belfast banger takes on IBF champion Kiko Martinez this Saturday night in front of 16,000 local fans, as he hunts his first world title, live and exclusive on BoxNation.
By Gav Duthie: We only have to wait until next saturday for the big rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana but there is plenty going on in the meantime to keep us occupied. There are 7 intriguing fights over the next 7 days to keep a close eye on with plenty at stake and with all likelyhood a couple of titles changing hands.
(Tokyo, Japan)
Fri 5 – Akira Yaegashi 20-3 (10) v Roman Gonzalez 39-0 (33)
WBC flyweight
(Belfast, Northern Ireland)
Sat 6 – Kiko Martinez 31-4 (23) v Carl Frampton 18-0 (13)
IBF Super Bantanweight
By Scott Gilfoid: #1 IBF Carl Frampton will be taking on the monstrous punching IBF super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez on September 6th at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. Frampton sees himself as one of the top fighters in the 122 pound division, but he’s going to have to prove that he belongs up there by showing that he can beat the tough as nails Martinez.
Frampton wants to take on the bigger names in the division like Leo Santa Cruz. Frampton hasn’t shown a great deal of interest as of yet facing what many boxing fans see as the legitimate overall champion at 122 in Guillermo Rigondeaux. That guy is obviously a step too far for Frampton to take.
By Scott Gilfoid: #2 IBF Carl Frampton (18-0, 13 KOs) will be challenging IBF super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez (31-4, 23 KOs) for his title on September 6th at the Titanic Quarter, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
Frampton’s management was able to make it worthwhile for Kiko to fight in Frampton’s home country on 9/6 instead of Kiko’s home in Spain. You’ve got to hope that we don’t see a controversial decision in this fight because that would be a tragedy.
Frampton defeated Kiko last year in February in the 9th round when he caught him with a big shot while on the run. Frampton was having major problems with Martinez’s power, and had to get on his bicycle in order to keep from taking too much punishment during the exchanges.
By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBC, #2 IBF, #9 WBO, Carl Frampton (18-0, 13 KO’s) will be challenging IBF super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez (31-4, 23 KO’s) for his IBF 122 lb. strap in a rematch on September 6th in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Frampton stopped Martinez in the 9th round in a competitive fight last year in February 2013 in Belfast.
The fight was pretty much an even fight until Frampton caught Martinez with a shot to the head in the 9th that knocked him out. At that point in the fight, Martinez was getting to Frampton and it looked like Martinez was on his way to victory.
By Scott Gilfoid: EBU super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (16-0, 11 KO’s) didn’t exactly sound motivated when he was asked last night if he would be interested in fighting interim WBA super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg in his next fight.
The look on Frampton’s face spoke volumes, as he immediately froze for a second before he finally spit out this answer: “Hopefully we’ll fight one of these days. It’s what the British people want; it’s bigger than [David] Price – [Tyson] Fury.”
At that point in the conversation, Frampton was quickly cut off by his promoter Eddie Hearn, who started getting animated, saying this and that about how Frampton is a huge star and how he sells out arenas. Hearn ended his frantic monologue with these words “Scott Quigg needs Frampton, that’s the difference.”
By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn, the promoter for EBU super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (16-0, 11 KO’s) is already calling the young 5’5” Frampton a superstar in the 122 pound division despite the fact that he struggled in beating Kiko Martinez last night in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Frampton constantly ran and clinched, and ducked below the waist to avoid getting hit. It was constant running and when he wasn’t running, he was clinching.
When Hearn was interviewed after the fight, he was like he was like a broken record, saying “He’s the superstar of the super bantamweight division.”
Superstar, eh? Frampton struggles to beat a 26-year-old Kiko Martinez by running all around the ring for 9 painful to watch rounds, and Hearn is calling him a superstar?
By Scott Gilfoid: Newly crowned EBU super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (16-0, 11 KO’s) will be back in the ring on May 11th, says his promoter Eddie Hearn, but it probably won’t be against interim WBA super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg because Hearn doesn’t appear all that interested in making that fight based on the comments he made after Frampton’s 9th round TKO win over Kiko Martinez (27-4, 19 KO’s) last Saturday night at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
Hearn said “The kid [Frampton] is a world beater. He’s going right to the top. We’re already looking at May 11th to be back here. The IBF title; I’d say we’re going to get a shot [at some point in the future], and even the WBC title.
By Dominic Sauboorah: Carl Frampton just showed how good he is after he knocked out knock out artist EBU super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez last night at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. The atmosphere was electric and Frampton was clearly spurred on by the crowd.
The talented Irishman did have to come through some rough times, however showed just how good he is at adjusting to a fight as he ended up landing the better punches and in the 9th caught the Spaniard with a devastating straight right hand that landed flush on Martinez’s chin. Martinez did want to fight on, however his legs deserted him and was unable to continue.
By Jim Dower: Carl Frampton (16-0, 11 KO’s) stayed unbeaten on Saturday night in defeating the powerful EBU super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez (27-4, 19 KO’s) by a 9th round TKO to take his title at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
The fight ended when the 26-year-old Martinez walked into a short right hand from Frampton that sent him down on the canvas. Martinez got back to his feet but was staggering. Realizing that Martinez was too hurt to continue the referee then halted the bout at 2:46 of the round.
***
British and Commonwealth featherweight champion Lee Selby (14-1, 5 KO’s) totally dominated an over-matched and much smaller Martin Lindsay (20-2, 7 KO’s) in beating him by a lopsided 12 round points unanimous decision by the scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 118-109.