The Frampton-Santa Cruz Fights Revisited

I was happy to contribute to Joshua Isard’s look back at the memorable Frampton-Santa Cruz fights for The Fight City. To read the piece, click here: 

https://www.thefightcity.com/frampton-vs-santa-cruz-rivalry-boxing/

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook. 

Frampton's Final Push

Carl Frampton was a retired fighter. For two weeks after last year's grueling unanimous decision loss to Josh Warrington, Frampton, a former two-division titlist, thought he was done with boxing. But sitting at home with his family, that gnawing feeling started to take over. "I didn't want to end like that," he said. "I want to know what it feels like to be a champion again." So Carl readied himself for another push to the top. Aligned with a powerhouse team that includes MTK Global, Frank Warren and Bob Arum, Frampton wanted one more shot at the title. 

Frampton (26-2, 15 KOs) next fights on August 10th against Emmanuel Dominguez (26-8-2, 18 KOs) in Philadelphia (televised in the U.S. via ESPN+) and he has already been in town for two weeks as he finalizes his training camp. He met with local media this week at the Irish Center. Three bagpipers played prior to the start of the event, a nice welcoming touch for the boxer from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Photo by Adam Abramowitz/Saturday Night Boxing

With a win against Dominguez, Frampton will be in pole position for another shot at the featherweight title, but his potential future opponent is unclear at this time. The current WBO titleholder, Oscar Valdez, has signaled his desire to move up in weight. If that were to happen, Frampton could wind up facing uber-prospect Shakur Stevenson for the vacant title. And if the WBO route doesn't work out, there are other possibilities, including a rematch with Warrington, or perhaps a trilogy fight with Leo Santa Cruz.

But first thing's first. Frampton has a fight to win next week and he's been putting the finishing touches on a spirited camp at the Grays Ferry Boxing and Fitness Club with trainer Jamie Moore and chief sparring partners Aqib Fiaz, a Manchester-area boxer from Moore's stable, and Stephen Fulton, an impressive junior featherweight prospect from Philly (Fulton also sparred with Frampton in a previous camp).

At 32 and a veteran of the boxing scene, Carl understands the importance of the Dominguez fight. "At this stage of my career, if I lose my career is over." Frampton knows that he represents an enormous opportunity for Dominguez. And he's also aware that Dominguez has been in the ring with several notable fighters, such as current junior featherweight champ Emanuel Navarrete. 

For this camp, there have been no cutting corners. No cheat days. He was asked if he had a steak sandwich yet while in Philly and Carl responded with a laugh saying not yet, but that's the first thing on the menu Sunday morning after the fight. He asked the crowd if the famous "Pat's Steaks" was a good choice, of which the Philly Phaithful in attendance gave him a good-natured boo.

Frampton spoke with the assembled media for over 30 minutes and he's a natural talker. He has excelled when doing punditry work in England and he co-hosts a successful podcast with Chris Lloyd (TKO with Carl Frampton). During his remarks, he confirmed his desire to get into broadcasting after his career is over. 

During the free-ranging dialogue, Carl analyzed some of the best matchups in boxing, revealed his career highlights and opined on potential future opponents. He handled all of the questions, especially some pointed ones, with ease. He wouldn't take the bait and respond to Stevenson's recent trash talk about him, and he was respectful of past opponents such as Leo Santa Cruz, Kiko Martinez and Nonito Donaire (Donaire and Frampton have become friends and Donaire will be coming to Philly to support Frampton on fight night).

Frampton acknowledged the talent in the featherweight division, stopping to give credit to Santa Cruz, Valdez, Russell (although he wondered why he didn't fight more), Warrington and Stevenson. He knows that he'll have to be at his best to get another belt.  

For trainer Moore, this camp has been an opportunity to address some of the problems that occurred during the Warrington fight, a match so brutal that Frampton's wife vowed that she would never watch him fight live again. "The main problem was Carl's decision making in the first three rounds of the fight," said Moore (who was also on-hand at the media event). "Would Carl have stood and traded with Nonito Donaire in the center of the ring? Of course he wouldn't. He would’ve been a fool to do that with his power. He didn't respect Warrington's power enough. And that was a problem."

Frampton admitted that he was hurt several times in the Warrington fight. For this camp Frampton and Moore are emphasizing fundamental boxing, angles and footwork, the types of skills that could come in handy against Dominguez, or an aggressive pressure fighter, such as Valdez. Frampton illustrated in his title-winning effort against Santa Cruz and in a 122-lb. title defense against Scott Quigg that he certainly has the requisite skills to defeat top-level pressure fighters. But in his two losses (against Warrington and the rematch with Santa Cruz) he also showed that he could be lured into ill-advised firefights. 

Although everyone was all smiles at the media event, the underlying seriousness from the fighter and trainer was definitely present. They weren't in Philadelphia for the sightseeing; they want a title fight by the end of the year.  

Win or lose against Dominguez, Frampton's had a notable career. Along with Steve Collins, he's the only two-division belt holder from Ireland, and the only two-belt titlist from Northern Ireland. According to Frampton, his two most memorable moments were defeating Santa Cruz in New York, where over 2,500 fans crossed the Atlantic to support him (I was there, they were loud), and fighting at home to a sold out Windsor Park in Belfast. 

Frampton was asked about his legacy and his answer was perfect, "I want to be remembered as a legend in Irish sports. But I also want to be known as a decent guy, not an arsehole...or a dickhead." The room broke up in laughter.

Ultimately, the vibes were good. The positivity was abundant, but the reality of where Frampton is in his career was evident. He's now in the lose-or-go-home phase of his career. And as much as he loves his wife and kids, he's not ready to go home for good. Not just yet. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 
Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook. 

Pound-for-Pound Update 4-18-19

It's been a long time since the last Saturday Night Boxing Pound-for-Pound update. How long? Six months in fact and much has happened in the boxing world since then. Perhaps the biggest fight in terms of pound-for-pound relevance since the last update was the clash between Errol Spence and Mikey Garcia, a matchup between two of the best boxers in the sport. Moving up to welterweight, Garcia was rendered ineffective by Spence's work rate, movement and power punches. As a result, Spence moves up the list from #10 to #8 and Mikey Garcia slides from #6 to #9. 

Two Asian boxers continue their impressive climbs up the pound-for-pound list. Donnie Nietes, from the Philippines, won a squeaker against former multi-division titlist Kazuto Ioka on New Year's Eve. Nietes, now campaigning at junior bantamweight, has won titles in four divisions. He moves up to #10 from #13. Japan's Kosei Tanaka continues his meteoric ascent in boxing. At just 23 and with only 13 professional fights, Tanaka, a flyweight champion, added to his resume earlier this year by defeating former 108-lb. champion Ryoichi Taguchi in an impressive performance. He moves up to #11 from #15.  

Elsewhere in the rankings, three fighters make their debut. Josh Warrington, Miguel Berchelt and Wanheng Menayothin enter the pound-for-pounds list at #18, #19 and #20, respectively. Warrington had an excellent 2018, defeating a current featherweight champ (Lee Selby) and a recent one (Carl Frampton), who had been #20 in the SNB Rankings prior to the fight. Miguel Berchelt is in the midst of an impressive run at junior lightweight, defeating three action warriors in Francisco Vargas, Takashi Miura and Miguel Roman. Menayothin, of Thailand, has defended his minimumweight title 11 times. To this point Menayothin (52-0) hasn't faced a Murderer's Row of opponents, but he is starting to build a solid resume. 

With his eighth-round knockout over Tony Bellew, undisputed cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk moves from #4 to #3. 

In addition to Frampton, two other fighters dropped out of the rankings. Adonis Stevenson was knocked out by Oleksandr Gvozdyk and it's unlikely that the 41-year-old will ever fight again. Guillermo Rigondeaux also leaves the rankings. Rigondeaux hasn't had a notable win in years, and his inactivity and quality of opposition leave a lot to be desired. 

Here is the complete Saturday Night Boxing Pound-for-Pound List:

1. Vasiliy Lomachenko
2. Terence Crawford
3. Oleksandr Usyk
4. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
5. Naoya Inoue
6. Saul Alvarez
7. Gennady Golovkin
8. Errol Spence
9. Mikey Garcia
10. Donnie Nietes
11. Kosei Tanaka
12. Juan Estrada
13. Anthony Joshua
14. Jarrett Hurd
15. Manny Pacquiao
16. Leo Santa Cruz
17. Roman Gonzalez
18. Josh Warrington
19. Miguel Berchelt
20. Wanheng Menayothin

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.
snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook.   

SNB Stock Report 12-24-18

After a jam-packed weekend of fights, it's time for another edition of the SNB Stock Report. Whose stock has gone up (+), whose has gone down (-) and whose has remained unchanged (NC)? 

Jermall Charlo (NC) Charlo had a difficult time with late replacement Matvey Korobov. Jermall escaped with a unanimous decision victory, but there were large stretches of the fight where he was second best. Head-hunting, Charlo was trying to knock Korobov out with seemingly every punch he threw. This provided Korobov with ample opportunity to counter or step out of range. Charlo did land his fair share of power punches, but overall his performance didn't answer many questions, just raised more. Charlo needs to remember that he once had a solid boxing foundation; abandoning his fundamentals to sell out for a knockout, he has become more one-dimensional in the ring.

Jermell Charlo evades a jab from Tony Harrison
Photo Courtesy of Stephanie Trapp

Jermell Charlo (-) Jermell lost a controversial unanimous decision to Tony Harrison. Most ringside media had Charlo winning, as did the Fox broadcast team, but many on social media thought that the fight was close, that no robbery occurred (sometimes a bout plays differently in the arena than it does on TV). Charlo was certainly the aggressor in the match but it's up for debate as to how effective that aggression was round by round. Like his brother in the main event, Jermell spent too much time loading up on big shots trying to get a knockout. He did have moments where he landed effective hard punches, but Harrison also befuddled him at points with sharp counterpunching and movement. Although this loss won't be devastating to Charlo's career, it did derail a title unification fight with Jarrett Hurd, and the career-high payday that would have accompanied it. 

Dereck Chisora (NC) Through 10 rounds Chisora was running neck-and-neck with Dillian Whyte in their rematch. Chisora landed his fair share of hard left hooks to the body and sneaky right hands to the head. But in the 11th, Whyte unleashed a pulverizing left hook. And that was that. When in shape and focused, Chisora remains a threat to top heavyweights and a great action fighter. At 34, it's too early to give up on him. He may yet spring another surprise or two before his career is finished. 

Michael Conlan (NC) After 10 professional fights, it's not clear if Conlan has an elite skill. He certainly doesn't have punching power. His hand speed is good not great. His defense can be penetrated. He's an athlete, but not an exceptional one. On Saturday he won a wide decision over Jason Cunningham, a C-fighter, but didn't dazzle. Right now Conlan appears to be going through the motions somewhat. He's getting in his rounds, working on things, but not necessarily looking like a future champion. To win a title he will have to rely on ring generalship, guile and intelligence more than an overwhelming skill set. It's a good thing that Conlan is now aligned with trainer Adam Booth. Guile is Booth's calling card. 

Warrington (right) digs a right hand into Frampton's body
Photo Courtesy of Elliot Foster

Carl Frampton (-) Josh Warrington attacked Frampton with such gusto during the first two rounds that Frampton looked like he was in danger of being knocked out. But Frampton bore down, regained his composure and worked his way into the fight. He fought his ass off in the trenches and tried his best to thwart Warrington's aggression. However, Warrington would not be denied on Saturday. His work rate and relentlessness earned him a unanimous decision victory. Frampton was supposed to have had the superior power and boxing skills in the matchup, but he couldn't match Warrington's physical output or will to win. On the technical side, Frampton lacked accuracy with his left hook and at times had trouble pulling the trigger. It's clear that Frampton is no longer a fighter in his physical prime. 

Tony Harrison (+) In his notable fights earlier in his career, Harrison demonstrated that he possessed the boxing skills to be a champion, but he lacked endurance, which led to knockout defeats against Willie Nelson and Jarrett Hurd. Leading up to Saturday's fight, Harrison claimed that his stamina issues were now resolved. He attributed his past problems to over-training. Well, it looks like there was something to that. Not only did he last the full 12 rounds on Saturday, but he won a unanimous decision over Jermell Charlo, claiming his first championship belt. Charlo-Harrison was a difficult fight to score. Charlo came forward and landed his share of shots, but he also missed a lot. Harrison did some very clever countering throughout the contest. Often, boxers on the back foot don't necessarily get the nod in close fights, but there's no rule that says judges have to pick the fighter coming forward. Irrespective of what the scores could have or should have been, Harrison performed with aplomb.

The Larry Hazzards (-) Larry Hazzard Sr. was Fox's unofficial judge during the Charlo card while his son was an official judge for the Charlo-Korobov main event. Both stunk. Senior failed to credit Tony Harrison for his solid boxing throughout the fight. But that was nothing compared to Junior's abominable 119-108 card for Jermall Charlo. Let's not sugarcoat it: Hazzard Jr. should be suspended for that card. Korobov did some great work during the fight; it's a shame that Hazzard Jr. finished his before the bout even started. He embarrassed the sport on Saturday. 

Matvey Korobov (+) With it being four years since his last fight of note and receiving only a week's notice to face Jermall Charlo, not much was expected of Korobov. Yes, he had been in training camp, but he was preparing for an eight-rounder above the middleweight limit, not a fight against one of the best talents in the division. But surprisingly Korobov troubled Charlo throughout their fight. Although he lost by unanimous decision, more than a few observers thought that Korobov had done enough to win. He consistently punished Charlo with an array of counters. Whenever Charlo would reach with a right hand or overcommit with a shot, Korobov was there with something in return. Korobov could have been busier, but his performance exceeded all realistic expectations. He will get another meaningful fight based on how competitive he was on Saturday. 

Martin Murray (-) Murray's fight against Hassan N'Dam was essentially a last chance for two perennial middleweight contenders. Murray started brightly, attacking N'Dam from the jump and landing a number of solid right hands. But as the fight progressed, Murray's work rate dropped and he couldn't figure out N'Dam's unconventional combinations and tricky rhythms. Ultimately, Murray dropped a majority decision and announced after the fight that he would be retiring. Murray had a solid career and with different judges he could have (and perhaps should have) been a world champion. 

Hassan N'Dam (+) In his previous bout against Ryota Murata, N'Dam's corner stopped the fight after he had taken numerous hard right hands. That had been 14 months ago and it was unknown how N'Dam would look in his return against Martin Murray. After a few rounds of shaking off ring rust, N'Dam used his legs, angles and unique combinations to get the best of Murray. He won via a majority decision, but the fight wasn't all that close. N'Dam remains a tricky opponent; however, he is only truly threatening against those who lack power. 

Josh Warrington (+) Nobody told Josh Warrington that he was supposed to lose to Lee Selby and Carl Frampton this year. But Warrington believed that he had far more to offer than just being a scrappy "opponent." He would go on to attack Selby and Frampton ferociously and neither was able to match his intensity level. Although not considered a big puncher, Warrington had Frampton hurt several times during Saturday's fight. Featuring a whirlwind of movement, body punches galore and a rock solid chin, Warrington slugged his way to a unanimous decision victory in his first title defense. It's safe to say that Warrington will no longer be underrated. He's a real force at featherweight and no fighter is going to enjoy getting in the ring with him. 

Dillian Whyte standing over a fallen Dereck Chisora
Photo Courtesy of Dave Thompson

Dillian Whyte (+) It's easy to pick apart Whyte's flaws in the ring: His footwork is ponderous, his focus can drift in and out, his defense can be inconsistent. However, he can certainly fight. On Saturday he knocked out Dereck Chisora in the 11th round with an absolutely beautiful short left hook. Whyte's money punch is the hook, but he's not a one-trick fighter. He used his physicality to beat former champion Joseph Parker earlier this year. In addition, he possesses a fairly large offensive arsenal and can really dig to the body. Whyte has continued to improve since his loss to Anthony Joshua in 2015. An afterthought in the division three years ago, he's now among the top five heavyweights in the world. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.
snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook.