![]() The crowd’s demented clamour told us the end was near.” A war breaks out in Brooklyn. Otis Redding came and went, having sat on the dock of the bay, and Rojas went down again in the fourth. The sacred old rituals of boxing felt powerful.” As news of the undercard fights trickled in, “Carl made eerie cries as his blurring gloves smacked hard into the pads held by Shane. Shane McGuigan began to wrap Carl’s hands. “As the clock ticked slowly towards his ring walk in front of a sold-out crowd … soul music, sung fifty years earlier by Sam Cooke, slipped from a corner of the room. “A few thousand Irish fans had made the trip to New York and it was a festive, raucous atmosphere.” This was only Frampton’s second match in America, but if an Irishman is going to fight stateside, there are few better places to do it than Barclays.ĭonald McRae, boxing writer for The Guardian and author of several boxing books, including the acclaimed Dark Trade, was in Frampton’s dressing room that night and remembers an atmosphere of intensity and focus. “It felt like a home fight for Carl Frampton,” recalls Abramowitz, who was in attendance that night. Santa Cruz and Frampton weigh-in at Barclays. And fittingly, on fight night, the energy and anticipation was electric. In fact, it was exactly the kind of showdown boxing fans are always asking for, but which just doesn’t happen frequently enough: two champions in their primes battling for a major title, and with a clash of styles certain to entertain fanatics and casuals alike. “Everyone knew,” says DiBella, “it would be a Fight of the Year contender.” Hall of Fame promoter Lou DiBella, who co-promoted that first clash, agrees. “It was a ‘can’t miss’ fight,” recalls Adam Abramowitz, writer for Saturday Night Boxing and Ring City, of the first Frampton vs Santa Cruz meeting at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in July of 2016. ![]() All agree, it was extraordinary to see two top pugilists peak at the same time, and against one another. Some were in attendance and some were involved in making these memorable bouts happen. ![]() As well as re-watching the fights, I’ve spoken to some prominent members of the boxing community about the legacy of the Frampton vs Santa Cruz rivalry. And, like a Nabokov novel or a Tarantino flick, these battles reward a second look. What binds Frampton and Santa Cruz is a pair of great fights, the first of which went down almost exactly five years ago. Santa Cruz falls to Gervonta: time to say goodbye. Given the bond between these two fighters, it would be nothing short of poetic if Santa Cruz decides to pull up his own proverbial rocking chair next to Frampton’s. Carl Frampton recently announced his retirement after being stopped by Jamel Herring, and Leo Santa Cruz has let it be known he is contemplating doing the same following his brutal knockout loss to Gervonta Davis. The end of a champion’s career is naturally a time for reflection, and it so happens that the boxing journeys of two linked fighters appear to be winding down together. ![]()
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