Frampton vs Cruz II

Who won Frampton vs Cruz II?

Leo Santa Cruz beat Carl Frampton by majority decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday 28th January 2017 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced as 113-115, 114-114, 113-115 in favor of winner Leo Santa Cruz.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Featherweight division, which meant the weight limit was 126 pounds (9 stone or 57.1 KG).

This contest was for the vacant WBA featherweight championship of the world.

Frampton vs Cruz II stats

Carl Frampton stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 23 wins, zero loses and 0  draws, 14 of those wins coming by the way of knock out.

Leo Santa Cruz made his way to the ring with a record of 32 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw, with 18 of those wins by knock out.

The stats suggested Frampton had a slight advantage in power over Santa Cruz, with a 61% knock out percentage over Santa Cruz's 56%.

Carl Frampton was the older man by 2 years, at 36 years old.

Santa Cruz had a height advantage of 2 inches over Frampton. That also extended to a 7-inch reach advantage.

Both Carl Frampton & Leo Santa Cruz fought out of an orthodox stance.

Frampton was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 11 less fights, and made his debut in 2009, 2 year and 7 months later than Santa Cruz, whose first professional fight was in 2006. He had fought 59 less professional rounds, 218 to Santa Cruz's 277.

Leo Santa Cruz was ranked number 2 by the WBA in the 126lb division.

Frampton vs Cruz II form

Frampton had won 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 4 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Leo Santa Cruz on 30th July 2016 by majority decision in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at Barclays Center, New York, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Scott Quigg on 27th February 2016 by split decision in their IBF World Junior Featherweight and WBA World Super Bantamweight championship fight at Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Going into that contest, he had beat Alejandro Gonzalez Jr on 18th July 2015 by unanimous decision in their IBF World Junior Featherweight championship fight at Don Haskins Convention Center, El Paso, United States.

Before that, he had defeated Chris Avalos on 28th February 2015 by technical knockout in the 5th round in their IBF World Junior Featherweight championship fight at Odyssey Arena, Belfast, United Kingdom.

He had won against Kiko Martinez on 6th September 2014 by unanimous decision in their IBF World Junior Featherweight championship fight at Titanic Quarter, Belfast.

Santa Cruz had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Carl Frampton on 30th July 2016 by majority decision in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at Barclays Center, New York, United States.

Previous to that, he had defeated Kiko Martinez on 27th February 2016 by technical knockout in the 5th round in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at Honda Center, Anaheim.

Going into that contest, he had beat Abner Mares on 29th August 2015 by majority decision in their WBA Super World Featherweight championship fight at Staples Center, LA.

Before that, he had won against Jose Cayetano on 2nd May 2015 by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

He had beat Jesus Ruiz on 17th January 2015 by technical knockout in the 8th round in their WBC World Super Bantamweight championship fight at MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Leo Santa Cruz had been fighting more than Carl Frampton.

Going to this contest, Carl Frampton had last fought 6 years, 10 months and 10 days ago, while Leo Santa Cruz's last outing had been 6 years, 10 months and 10 days ago.

Frampton's last 5 fights had come over a period of 8 years, 9 months and 3 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 9 months and 1 day. In those fights, he fought a total of 53 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 10.6 rounds on average.

Santa Cruz's last 5 fights had come over a period of 8 years, 4 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 8 months and 5 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 47 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 9.4 rounds on average.

What time did Frampton vs Cruz II start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 11:00 PM EST / 8:00 PM PST at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, United States, which was around 4:00 AM GMT in the UK.

What were the odds on Frampton vs Cruz II?

Carl Frampton was a 83/100 (-120) favourite going into the contest, while Leo Santa Cruz made his way into the ring at 67/50 (+130) with oddsmakers.