Lee Selby hoping for Carl Frampton to beat Leo Santa Cruz

Lee Selby [23(8)-1(0)] will be ringside cheering on Carl Frampton as ‘The Jackal’ puts his WBA featherweight title on the line against Leo Santa Cruz at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 28th.

However, the Welsh fighter hasn’t become a ‘Jackal Army’ convert – rather his motives are personal. The IBF titlist is keen on a unification fight with the winner of the Las Vegas clash – and feels a Frampton win would lead to this, whereas a Santa Cruz rematch triumph would put unification talk on the back-burner.

The Al Haymon-advised fighter argues a win for Frampton shortens the pathway to a shot at the WBA version of the belt, as a Santa Cruz win would most likely lead to a third clash between the pair.

Selby will defend his IBF belt against Argentinian Jonathan Victor Baros on the undercard of the massive January 28th rematch, in what will be his final fight under Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Promotions.

The Welsh Mayweather told Sky Sports how “I will fight the winner, no problem, but if I am honest, I would like Frampton to win because obviously he’s a British fighter and we always root for each other but a fight between me and him would be the biggest one.”

“And of course, if Santa Cruz beats Frampton, it will be all square and then everyone will be looking for a decider. I wouldn’t want to see that from my point of view. I hope Frampton wins. He is the one I want to fight.”

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Joe O’Neill and Gavan Casey look ahead to 2017 in episode 1 of The Irish Boxing Show