By Edward Chaykovsky
Shane McGuigan, who trains WBA featherweight champion Carl Frampton (23-0, 14KOs) would like to see an immediate rematch with Leo Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18KOs).
The two fighters collided last Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
After twelve hard rounds in a Fight of The Year battle, Frampton walked away with a twelve round majority decision victory - and Santa Cruz's unbeaten record and WBA world title.
Santa Cruz has claimed to have an immediate rematch clause, while Frampton's promoter Barry McGuigan has denied there is any such clause.
Shane McGuigan is on board with doing a rematch and hopes it can get done before Christmas. Santa Cruz wants to do the rematch in Los Angeles or Las Vegas, but has no problem traveling to Belfast if needed.
Shane was shocked at how many people in the United States had pegged Frampton as a huge underdog and expected him to get beaten.
"What I would like to see happen is an immediate re-match with Santa Cruz before the end of the year so Carl can enjoy Christmas. Then a fight around St Patrick's Day before a big fight in the summer in Belfast which could be the fight with Selby," Shane McGuigan told the Belfast Telegraph.
"I believe that Carl would beat Santa Cruz again and he could even stop him next time. Carl knows what Santa Cruz is about so I think he could be even better next time. The fight was certainly the most exciting fight I've been involved with and now the Americans have really taken to him.
"I couldn't believe how much the American media didn't give him a chance - they were only judging him on the fight last year in El Paso with Alejandro Gonazalez. But we knew that wasn't the real Carl and the move up in weight has made a big difference."
"In his last two fights Carl has won two world title belts and become a two-weight world champion - he's now pound for pound the most exciting and the best fighter in the UK. In the first six rounds of the fight I could see just how much impact his punches were having on Santa Cruz, every time he landed the left hook Santa Cruz's leg buckled. He fought Santa Cruz at his own game, up close and got the better of him. It was fantastic."
ADD COMMENT VIEW COMMENTS (18)