Santa Cruz: Fans won Frampton the fight – I want a rematch

Leo Santa Cruz wants his title back.

The Mexican lost his WBA featherweight crown as Carl Frampton broke his duck egg in New York on Saturday night and immediately called for a rematch.

Directly after the clash he was keen to stress he wanted a repeat of a fight any neutral would love to watch again.

“It’s hard to get your first loss, but now we’ll go back to the gym, we’ll get the rematch and we’ll win,” Santa Cruz told Showtime.

“That loss will mean nothing then. I want to have a rematch in Los Angeles, but I’ll go to Belfast too.”

Santa Cruz lost a majority 114-114, 116-112, 117-111 decision, but felt he won a close fight. The three-weight world champ and dethroned king threw more punches, but more quality was coming from Frampton – hence the win.

However the popular West Coast native thinks ‘The Jackal Army’ and not necessarily the Jackal’s work swayed the judges.

“It was a tough fight from the beginning,” said the dethroned king. “We knew it was going to be a tough fight,  but I thought it was close when I’m in there throwing.”

“Maybe the judges were hearing the crowd and thought that every little punch was scoring. He has a difficult style, but we know his style and get him in the rematch.”

“The crowd was cheering, and I think the judges saw that. And maybe, without that, we would have had a draw or maybe a decision.”