Leo Santa Cruz Edges Carl Frampton Via Majority Decision in Another Classic

.@RealCFrampton & @leosantacruz2 trade shots as we enter round 11 #FramptonSantaCruz2 #Boxing pic.twitter.com/22pe43Vynp

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) January 29, 2017

It looks like they’ll have to go at it a third time.

Leo Santa Cruz got revenge on rival Carl Frampton in a wild brawl inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, his triumph anchoring a magnificent event televised on Showtime. Santa Cruz, who dropped a close majority decision to Frampton last July at Barclays Center in New York, was the aggressor throughout and stayed ahead of the Irishman for much of the battle.

Santa Cruz used his height and reach to his advantage much more in this skirmish than he did in the first and it paid off. While Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) willingly engaged in wild back-and-forth exchanges in nearly every stanza, Santa Cruz landed the harder, more telling blows. The Mexican slugger dug dozens of wicked hooks to the body, effectively slowing “The Jackal” down. However, Frampton rallied late in the fight to close the gap in scoring.

As the final round drew near, the fight was essentially hanging in the balance, though Santa Cruz (33-1-1, 18 KOs) appeared to have it more or less in the bag. The two featherweights waged war in the proverbial phone booth until the end and after it went to the three ringside judges, the result was the same: a majority decision. But unlike their epic battle last summer, it was Santa Cruz who walked away with his old world title belt – the WBA 126-pound strap – via tallies of 115-113 (twice) and 114-114, hopefully setting up a rubber match later this year.

In the co-feature, Mikey Garcia looked absolutely sensational as he clobbered Dejan Zlaticanin within three rounds to capture the Montenegro native’s WBC lightweight championship. Garcia (36-0) collected his 30th professional knockout when he drilled Zlaticanin with a vicious combo, knocking him completely out.

Zlaticanin (22-1, 15 KOs) continuously ducked low and leaned in toward Garcia when he punched and it didn’t take long for the Oxnard-based slugger to capitalize on his error. He committed the costly mistake one too many times and when he did, Garcia drilled him with a perfect uppercut on the inside and then finished his stunned foe with a crushing right hook. Zlaticanin fell through the bottom rope and laid unconscious for several moments; the feat is already the best knockout of the year in boxing.

The official time of the thumping came at 2:21 of the third, allowing Garcia, who has already scooped up the WBO’s featherweight and super featherweight championship belts, to win his a world title in three different weight classes.