Leo Santa Cruz vs. Carl Frampton: Preview and Prediction for Title Fight

A week after Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol did battle in Las Vegas, two more undefeated champions will face off in Brooklyn, as Carl Frampton moves up to featherweight to challenge WBA champion Leo Santa Cruz. 

Just as with Crawford and Postol, this is one of the best fights that can be made right now. Santa Cruz is a three-division champion and Frampton unified titles at 122 pounds. 

Leo Santa Cruz will enjoy a substantial advantage in reach in this fight. In beating Abner Mares last year, Santa Cruz demonstrated that he knows how to exploit such an edge. 

A Mexico native, Santa Cruz has become perhaps the most popular fighter based out of Southern California. 

This will be just Frampton's second fight in the United States and his first in New York City. It's a good opportunity for him, as fighters of Irish descent have traditionally done well selling tickets in the Big Apple. 

Leo Santa Cruz turned pro just two months after his 18th birthday. He was the IBF bantamweight champion by June 2011, at age 21. He collected the WBC 122-pound crown in August 2013. 

At the time, it was clear that Santa Cruz had the potential to become a big star in the sport. He's a high-energy, action fighter. But even as he was collecting titles in two divisions, he was very much a protected fighter, facing smaller, older opponents. 

But in August of last year, Santa Cruz faced three-division champion Abner Mares, in a bout that had been building for years. Against by far the best opponent of his career, Santa Cruz turned in the most complete performance of his career.

Judge Max DeLuca scored the fight a draw, but I can only wonder what he thought he was watching. Steve Morrow and Jesse Reyes were much more accurate, both turning in cards of 117-111 for Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz knocked out Kiko Martinez in a shootout earlier this year, but Carl Frampton is his first genuine test since winning the featherweight title.

Frampton himself stopped Martinez in February 2013. He beat Martinez again in a September 2014 rematch, to capture the IBF super bantamweight title.

The former amateur standout is managed by Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan, a former featherweight champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. 

Frampton defeated previously unbeaten Scott Quigg by split decision last February, to unite his IBF belt with the WBA version. If he can manage to win a title in a second division this weekend, he'll be on the short list for 2016's Fighter of the Year. 

Leo Santa Cruz is a high-volume puncher who mixes his attack well to the body and head. At the same time, he does a very good job at getting his hands back into defensive position at the end of a multi-punch flurry. 

He's an accurate, concussive puncher who lands a lot more shots than he gets hit by in return. 

Carl Frampton uses the ring very well. He gets in and out of range quickly and is exceptional at creating better angles for his own attacks. 

Frampton has quick hands and a very good double jab that he uses to set up his power punches. 

Leo Santa Cruz has very good length but he also has a habit of getting drawn into exchanges on the inside, where he gives up his height. He'll be ceding his single biggest physical advantage if he allows this to happen against Frampton. 

Carl Frampton has extremely short arms for a world-class prizefighter. This has never created a problem for him in the past, but he's never fought an opponent with Santa Cruz's length and talent. 

Leo Santa Cruz did an impressive job of using his reach against Abner Mares last year. He showed off a solid jab and did very good work from the outside. It was a look he had not shown much previously. 

He's going to need to fight in a similar manner against Carl Frampton. He enjoys an advantage of seven inches in reach. If Santa Cruz can use his straight punches to keep Frampton on the outside for much of the fight, he will be in good shape.

Santa Cruz throws blistering hook-to-the-body/uppercut-to-the-head combinations and those punches will be critical when Frampton manages to slip inside his straight shots.

If Santa Cruz can land on Frampton from long range and then really hurt him when he closes into the pocket, the title will stay in Southern California.   

Often when fighters move up in weight, they take a warm-up fight before facing one of the division's very best. Carl Frampton is doing nothing of the kind, though, in challenging Leo Santa Cruz. 

To be competitive in this fight, Frampton is going to need to stay either inside of, or slightly beyond, Santa Cruz's reach. He's got to explode inside quickly behind a doubled-up jab, then get off with quick combinations before escaping back out of range.

Grabbing the better angles on the outside will be critical for Frampton. Santa Cruz throws way too many punches for Frampton to risk moving in on a straight line.

This will almost surely be a tough fight for Frampton. But he is very good at the things he will need to do to win. If he can be the better ring general and control the terrain and tempo of the bout, he can win this one.  

I give Carl Frampton a lot of credit for moving up in weight and immediately seeking out one of the division's top fighters. But I ultimately think he'll be overmatched by a larger man. 

Leo Santa Cruz has a physical style that has always been trouble for smaller opponents. He also has the technical skill to keep up with Frampton. 

I expect Santa Cruz to fight a smart, tactical battle like he did with Abner Mares last year. Frampton will make a game showing, but I see Santa Cruz winning this one by eight rounds to four. 

The fight I'd really like to see Santa Cruz make, either late this year or early in 2017, is a unification fight with WBC champion Gary Russell Jr. They are both talented champions in their primes, and they're both managed by Al Haymon. 

So there is no reason this fight shouldn't get made on the PBC series.