Frampton laughs off Leo’s home-town jibes
WBA featherweight champion Carl Frampton [23(14)-0] has hit out at former title-holder Leo Santa Cruz’s claims that ‘The Jackal’ didn’t win the belt on merit.
El Terremoto has stated numerous times in the aftermath of their July clash at the Barclays Centre in New York that he felt that the pro-Frampton US East Coast fans swayed the bout in the Belfast man’s favour.
In addition to suggesting that the judges were deceived by the loud Frampton fans, Santa Cruz [32(18)-1(0)-1] also believes that, as reigning champion, he should have been given the benefit of the doubt in what was a relatively close majority decision (114-114, 117-111, 116-112) win for the Tigers Bay puncher.
Speaking in his weekly column for the Belfast Telegraph, Frampton expressed his disappointment at the Mexican-American – who seemingly accepted the defeat on the night. The 29 year old described how “Leo Santa Cruz seemed to take it on the chin, but over the past couple of weeks he appears to be rewriting history.”
“Now I keep hearing that I got the decision because I was the home fighter and because it was close he should have got it as he was the World champion.”
“I’m surprised at Leo.”
Frampton laughed of the American-based fighters geography-based argument, noting that “the last time I looked, New York isn’t exactly a stone’s throw away from – Belfast and you get the decision on merit, not if you’re the champion at the time.”
The two-weight World champion, only Ireland’s second ever after Steve Collins, pledged to leave Santa Cruz with no excusea next time round, and outlined how “when the rematch gets made then I’ll have the chance to end the arguments.
