Santa Cruz retakes featherweight title

las vegas — Leo Santa Cruz reclaimed the WBA featherweight title Saturday night with a majority decision over Carl Frampton.

In their second fight in six months, the 125-pound fighters thrilled the crowd with furious exchanges over a gruelling 12 rounds, with Santa Cruz (33-1-1) avenging his only loss.

Using a punishing jab that often left Frampton (23-1) out of position, Santa Cruz held a 230-133 advantage in punches landed even as Frampton often effectively eluded blows. Santa Cruz delivered another flurry in the 11th round and withstood Frampton’s aggression in the 12th.

“I worked hard and I did what I had to do,” Santa Cruz said. “Carl Frampton is a great fighter. Like I said, let’s get a third fight.”

Judge Burt Clements scored the fight 114-114, while Dave Moretti and Feldman had it 115-113.

“Some of the rounds were close, but I feel that Leo probably deserved it,” Frampton said.

The 5-foot-7 Santa Cruz, who was born in Mexico but lives in Los Angeles, had a 7-inch reach advantage over the 5-5 Frampton. But that mattered little in the first fight July 30 in New York, a thriller in which an overly aggressive Santa Cruz threw more than a thousand punches but lost a majority decision in what was considered one of the top bouts of 2016.

Santa Cruz, distracted some by his father and trainer’s bone cancer battle, thought the pro-Frampton crowd may have influenced the judges. He wanted the rematch on the West Coast and granted his wish as Jose Santa Cruz’s cancer went into remission. But an estimated 5,000 Irish and British fans made the trip to the Las Vegas Strip, chanting and singing long before the fight began. There appeared to be an even split of fans waving Mexican and Northern Ireland flags in the crowd of 10,085 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. —