Whose down for a trilogy?
The first fight between Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton this past July was a fight for the ages as it was voted the 2016 Boxing Fight of the Year. Frampton won the fight by majority decision in Brooklyn.
Six months later, the show moved west and it did not disappoint. This time Santa Cruz (33-1-1, 18 KOs) reversed fortunes winning by majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 115-113) to regain the WBA featherweight title in front of an electric crowd of 10,085 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
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Judge Burt Clements scored the fight 114-114 and judges Dave Moretti and Glenn Feldman scored the fight 115-113 for Santa Cruz. SportingNews.com scored the fight a draw.
This time around, Santa Cruz went heavy on the jab to keep Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) from coming inside and use his superior technical boxing. That didn't stop Frampton nor Santa Cruz from once again putting on a show and putting on a instant classic.
There were times they went back-and-forth going toe-to-toe right in the middle of the ring with the crowd taking turns on who to cheer and kept continuing as the fight went into the championship rounds including the final seconds of the bout as Frampton and Santa Cruz exchanged heavy blows to leave the crowd roaring for more.
After the fight, Frampton and Santa Cruz wanted a trilogy fight to take place for their next fights.
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, "The Fight Club Chicago," and subscribe on iTunes . You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA .
