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Andy Lee on Carl Frampton: The fight he really wants is Leo Santa Cruz

Carl Frampton made a victorious return to the ring at the weekend as he looks to challenge for a ...



Andy Lee on Carl Frampton: The...
Other Sports

Andy Lee on Carl Frampton: The fight he really wants is Leo Santa Cruz

Carl Frampton made a victorious return to the ring at the weekend as he looks to challenge for a world title in the near future.

Former middleweight champion Andy Lee joined Monday's Off the Ball to discuss the fight and what he thinks might be next for the Northern Irishman.

"It was a close fight - he made it a close fight I think," Lee told Joe Molloy. "It eventually ended up being a close fight but he was boxing well in the first part of the fight really. 

"He was showcasing his skills and catching Garcia at will but Garcia was big and tough and strong and he was always going to come on strong.

"And, with Frampton out of the ring for eight/nine months and with a new team - there was always, probably people hadn't going in given him enough credit and he was always going to get tired and find it difficult with making the adjustment to having a new team and being in a new environment and, like he said himself, he almost feels like a new pro and he's learning all over again. 

Asked if Frampton's style had changed much under Jamie Moore, Lee said: "No, not that I can see and I don't think there will be any noticeable change maybe until three or four fights down the line - if they even go that far. 

Carl Frampton lands a punch on Horacio Garcia. Image: ©INPHO/Presseye/William Cherry

"Frampton is a counter-puncher, he's a box-puncher really but more so a counter-puncher and he's best when he's on his toes moving around and tricking you and laying traps, drawing you in and then countering you with powerful punches and he's quite a good combination puncher too when he puts them together.

"So Garcia was almost the perfect opponent but just as the fight wore on - round six, round seven - he started to tire a little bit. He held his feet. Maybe he wanted to entertain the crowd in Belfast - make it a little bit more of a brawl and he played into Garcia's hands and he had a bit more success going down the stretch."

Looking to the future, Lee said: "The fight he really wants is Leo Santa Cruz (which) would be the trilogy. He won the first fight, Santa-Cruz won the second fight in January and he really wants that fight badly. 

"But, it seems with Santa Cruz being in America and the landscape being different over there - it's more likely he'll end up fighting Warrington or Selby - whoever wins that fight."

The full interview can be heard here:

Andy Lee on Carl Frampton: The fight he really wants is Leo Santa Cruz

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

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