Carl Frampton wary of more “empty promises” from Leo Santa Cruz

Carl Frampton isn’t getting his hopes up.

The Belfast featherweight has long sought a decisive third fight with WBA champion Leo Santa Cruz but, even with the Mexican-American promising a clash next year, Frampton is not convinced.

The pair traded wins and the belt in successive fights in July 2016 and January 2017 but both have since gone their separate ways since ‘El Terremoto’s’ rematch win in Vegas.

Last week, Santa Cruz [35(19)-1(0)-1] told FightHub that he hopes to fight Frampton next year following his upcoming to-be-announced bout in November.

The 30-year-old outlined how “if I get the win [in November], I want to fight Carl Frampton – people want that fight, I want that fight.”

“I want to make the third fight against him, Carl Frampton, he wants the third fight too. I’m pretty sure and I’m positive it’s going to happen next year.”

The quotes garnered a good bit of interest although many noted how it was not the first time that Santa Cruz had promised a rematch.

Frampton [26(15)-1(0)] himself is not reading too much into Santa Cruz’s plan and is instead focusing on his upcoming fight with Josh Warrington.

While ‘The Jackal’ has said multiple times that a trilogy fight with Santa Cruz is the one which appeals to him more than any other, Frampton is somewhat tired of the constant talk.

Writing in his weekly column for the Sunday Life, Frampton noted how “when I saw the interview with Leo Santa Cruz saying he would fight me in 2019, to be honest I just thought ‘I’ve heard it all before’.”

“It was nothing new to me, he has made empty promises before like stating he would fight me in Belfast and not following through on it.”

Frampton is back in training in Belfast for his upcoming bout with IBF champion Josh Warrington.

The Belfast 31-year-old and the Leeds champion have agreed to fight on December 22nd at the Manchester Arena with contracts to be signed imminently.