SISTERS ARE PRAYING FOR THE JACKAL
Belfast nuns backing their man Frampton in Santa Cruz rematch
AS Carl Frampton enters the ring in Sin City a convocation of nuns who live in strict seclusion outside Belfast will offer up prayers for his well-being.
They do so before all The Jackal’s fights.
As they did for Barry McGuigan, his mentor and predecessor in the folk legend of Irish boxing.
It is not principally for victory in Frampton’s potentially epic worldtitle rematch with Leo Santa Cruz but they will plead for him to come safely through a Saturday night of high drama and significant danger on the Las Vegas Strip.
McGuigan, a Catholic who married a Protestant at the height of The Troubles in Ulster, has been making a pilgrimage to that convent for 40 years. More recently he has been asking them to bless Frampton, a Protestant whose wife is Catholic.
Frampton’s promoter, McGuigan says: ‘It is part of my job now to make sure that Carl is totally ready for his fights. My son Shane takes great care of his training. I focus on the detail surrounding his preparations. Boxing is a dangerous business and we take the health and safety of all our fighters very seriously. This is the best sport in the world but there is always the risk of injury, even death, as we have been sadly reminded recently in the British ring.’
Frampton is not deeply religious but he appreciates McGuigan’s petition to the nuns.
He and Santa Cruz, from whom he took the world featherweight title in their exciting first fight in New York last summer, have a friendly respect for each other. But Frampton says: ‘ Both of us are fighting for our families. Like all boxers, if either of us sees a weakness in the other or an opening to inflict damage we will take it.’
Frampton, previously the unified world super- bantamweight champion, wobbled former threedivision champion Santa Cruz in New York in his first fight on moving up to featherweight.
But he has not inflicted a KO for nearly two years. McGuigan says: ‘Stoppages are harder to come by when you reach the stage of boxing elite fighters.’
Frampton says: ‘ I’ve been thinking about that this week. But now that I’ve settled at the higher poundage I feel much stronger and I’m punching a lot harder.
‘It had become a struggle to get down to super-bantam and having to lose those extra four pounds took away some of my power. I know I hurt Leo in New York and if I catch him cleanly to the jaw again I will knock him out. I don’t work up any hate for opponents, even in the ring. I never hate anybody. But that’s the business we are in. Once we’re done, if you have shared the ring with a man you respect in a great, challenging fight, you form a bond for life.
‘It’s like that between me and Leo already and I expect it to be all the stronger after this fight.’
Santa Cruz, 5ft 7½in, is two and a half inches taller than Frampton. He also has a 7in reach advantage.
But Frampton says: ‘No problem, I’ve been fighting bigger men all my life. My natural instinct for controlling distance negates size.
‘Our styles gel because he is a flat- out aggressive fighter and I love an opponent who comes forward because I’m at my best counter-punching.’
Santa Cruz threw more than a thousand punches in the first fight and says: ‘I have been told to use my reach and box smarter. I love entertaining the fans but the important thing now is to get the win and get back my title.’
Frampton doubts his rival will change, saying: ‘Leo’s a volume puncher. Why would he alter a style that has taken him to multiple world titles?’
The Jackal and the McGuigans are so confident of another careerdefining victory that they opted not to press for one UK judge at ringside for what could be another close decision.
And I share their opinion that the Ulster hero will win again.