Venue and huge chief support confirmed for Frampton v Santa Cruz rematch

Carl Frampton will defend his WBA featherweight title for the first time against former holder Leo Santa Cruz early next year in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The fight, which will take place on Saturday 28th January, is a repeat of the 126lbs duo’s clash at the Barclays Centre in New York in July.

Frampton [23(14)-0] scored a majority decision (114-114, 117-111, 116-112) victory over Santa Cruz [32(18)-1(0)-1] that night in what was a Fight of the Year contender which screamed repeat – and indeed was subject to a contractual rematch clause.

The rematch, announced earlier today, has been confirmed to be taking place at the 16,800-capacity venue in Sin City by Lance Pugmire of the LA Times.

Both the Barclays Centre in New York and the MGM had been placed on hold, with Vegas eventually winning out as had been expected.

What’s more, the headline fight between the Belfast man and Santa Cruz will be ably supported by a mouth-watering WBC lightweight title clash between champion Dejan Zlaticanin [22(15)-0] and Mikey Garcia [35(29)-0].

Frampton this evening jokingly tweeted the following once the news had been broken:

Jeez, if I wasn’t busy that night I’d love to watch this bill https://t.co/H1rserWT5M

— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) October 20, 2016