Frampton takes WBA featherweight title with majority decision over Santa Cruz

We have a new champion in the WBA featherweight division after a thrilling 12-round fight

By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Jul 31, 2016 at 12:54 am ET • 4 min read

Just 35 days after welterweights Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter put on an action-packed show at the Barclays Center, featherweights Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz followed suit with a dazzling 12-rounder that ended with the unbeaten Northern Irishman capturing the WBA world championship.

It's the same title his manager, Barry McGuigan, held during the 1980s and the younger man referred to the victory -- his first since relinquishing two belts at 122 pounds -- as "a dream come true."

"It was a tough fight. I wanted to be in a fight people would remember," Frampton said. "I respect him a helluva lot and a helluva lot more after that fight."

Judges Tom Schreck and Frank Lombardi gave Frampton nine and eight of the 12 rounds, respectively, while Guido Cavalleri had it even. Showtime's scorecard had Frampton winning seven rounds.

CBS Sports agreed with Cavalleri, giving each man six rounds.

"It was a good tough fight. I thought it was a pretty close," said Santa Cruz, who held a small margin in punches landed, though Frampton's accuracy rate was far superior. "Every little punch he threw people cheered for him and maybe the judges saw that."

Frampton said he'd be eager to give Santa Cruz a rematch, and the Mexican-turned-Californian initially insisted a return bout be in Los Angeles before conceding that he'd be ready to travel to Frampton's home base in Belfast.

"It was a pretty close fight. Carl's a great champion. He has a very difficult style," Santa Cruz said.

"In the rematch, we'll get him a lot easier. It's really hard, but we'll go back to the gym, we'll get the rematch and we'll beat him."

The action was largely back and forth in nature, with Santa Cruz establishing himself with a left jab and pressure early, while Frampton countered -- literally -- with faster hands, controlled the space and the pace with his quicker feet.

Neither man was ever in significant trouble, though Frampton altered perception early when he wobbled Santa Cruz in the second round with a short, quick left hook to the temple.

More of Frampton's early work was on display in rounds four and five, when he threw shots in combination and seemed to land blows with more impact. He looked far superior when moving forward and initiating combinations, making Santa Cruz's shots look wider and slower by comparison.

Schreck gave Frampton each of the first five rounds on his card, while Lombardi gave him four of the first five and even Cavalleri gave him three.

Santa Cruz did his best work in the final few rounds, snapping Frampton's head back with a jolting right hand in the final minute of the 11th and finally making his foe look weary in the final minute of the 12th.

The judges agreed across the board on only seven of 12 rounds - the second, third and fifth through ninth - awarding five of them to Frampton. And of the five rounds where there was no consensus, Frampton still got the nod on two cards in three of them -- the fourth, 11th and 12th.

"The game was to hit him hard and make him earn my respect in the first couple rounds," Frampton said. "He wasn't as eager after that. I would love a rematch. I would love to bring him to Belfast.

"I want to fight the best. I want to be involved in big memorable fights."

In the final run-up to the main event, former two-division champion Mikey Garcia was impressive in a return after more than two years on the shelf, dumping ex-featherweight title claimant Elio Rojas four times before finally stopping him at 2:02 of Round 5.

The first-generation Californian hadn't been in a ring since defeating Juan Carlos Burgos in January 2014, thanks to prolonged promotional haggling and courtroom maneuvering.

Rojas won the first two rounds on all three scorecards with quick hands and sharp punching, but Garcia - a counterpuncher by trade -- remained patient and began landed powerful shots.

He dropped Rojas twice in the third round, pursued him throughout Round 4 and scored two more knockdowns in the fifth. Rojas rose each time, but indicated to referee Eddie Claudio after the fourth knockdown that he wasn't ready to continue.

"I think it was a very good performance," Garcia said. "The time off helped me regain that fire. I do feel that I'm just as good and maybe hungrier than I was before. Now, there's bigger challenges in front of me. I'm very, very grateful for all the support."

Deeper on the undercard, former 140- and 147-pound titleholder Paulie Malignaggi returned to the ring for the first time in 2016 and defeated fellow Brooklyn resident Gabriel Bracero via unanimous 10-round decision.

One judge had it 96-94, or six rounds to four, for Malignaggi, while the other two had it eight rounds to two.