Not saying Frampton was slick, but he's slicker than 100% of Santa Cruz's opponents. Look at his record and you see A LOT of Mexican fighters. Through out his entire career, he has only fought guys who stood in front of him or couldn't move very well. No variety means no practice and we don't see every flaw. He couldn't cut off the ring and was too reliant on the left hand. He never varied his offense. He never threw the right hand as a lead. Always jab, jab, left hook, or jab, jab, right hand. Just predictable in his offense and his footwork was not fast enough to keep up with Frampton. If Santa Cruz want to to get better, he need to fight better opponent variety. As of right now, he would lose against any elite fighter who can move better than him.
LSC was given props for ducking Rigo because people hate Rigo but he was always a bum ass one dimensional fighter. He fought 98% bums Mares and Martinez, and now Frampton came across the Atlantic and rocked his jaw. He spent a large amount of his career avoiding challenges and now I know why.
He's got good footwork and constantly made Santa Cruz reach. He's slick for sure, slicker than everyone on LSC's resume. I just don't understand why LSC never fought outside his comfort zone.
I agree with the overall sentiment of this. Another problem for Leo is that he is seen as this unrelenting come forward fighter, aka Margarito, but he actually isn't. He used to be, but as he has moved up in weight he actually stands off more now and tries to box more. Yes, he stIll has a very good work rate, but he is not the unrelenting pressure fighter he used to be. He is more of a boxer/brawler these days. For me this has made him less effective. I am all for widening your ****nal and skill set, but Leo's main attribute was his great engine and the ridiculous non stop pressing this allowed him. Now he boxes at distance more and he just isn't good enough at doing it, not against the elite boxers, anyway. I'm not saying he is bad. He did have some success at distance against Frampton and even out jabbed him and beat him to the punch at times. However, he does not have the ability to win like this over the long haul against the top slick fighters. More pressure and less fighting at distance would help Leo. Use some of these skills he has picked up in the past few years to work your way in close the smart way, but keep up the pressure.
No i think csrl dominates i the rematch. Carl couldve coasted to a boring ud but chose to trade at times.
