“He thrives on pressure” – McGuigan expecting an even better Frampton in Santa Cruz rematch

The boxing world’s spotlight will be on Carl Frampton [23(14)-0] when he takes on Mexican-American Leo Santa Cruz [32(18)-1(0)-1] this Saturday night.

The Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year takes centre stage at none other than the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas where he will put his WBA featherweight title on the line in a repeat of a 2016 Fight of the Year contender.

It doesn’t get much bigger, but the bigger the better for ‘The Jackal’ claims mentor, manager, and Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan.

McGuigan isn’t worried about Frampton being blinded by the neon glare, nor is he concerned about the pressure getting to his charge.

Indeed, ‘The Clones Cyclone’ claims the more pressure, the better, for Frampton.

“He loves the pressure and he loves the accolades. As I said before, all of the things that he has won…he’s effectively the world fighter of the year,” McGuigan said on Newstalk 106FM’s Off The Ball.

“But, for a lot of guys, that would be too much for them. For him, he thrives on pressure. He loves it. He fights better when people expect more off him.”

McGuigan is confident going in to the fight, which he believes will be another cracker, and promises that we will see the best ever Jackal on Saturday night. The Monaghan man outlined how “we’ve spent four weeks out here, sparred 178 rounds so he’s in the best shape of his life – and he needs to be because Santa Cruz will be coming hunting for him and I think it’s going to be a replica of the last fight.”

“It’s going to be another great fight and I really believe Frampton is getting better at 29 years old, almost approaching 30 – he’s getting better. He’s been incredible in sparring, he’s knocked out a couple of sparring partners and he hasn’t done that for a long time,” he added.”