On 28th January, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Carl Frampton (23-0, 14 KO) will face Leo Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KO) in a rematch for Frampton's WBA World featherweight Championship.
Their first fight, at the Barclays Center in New York, saw Frampton beat the Mexician via majority decision for the WBA title and hand Santa Cruz his first-ever professional loss.
The Belfast native was the underdog going into the first fight and stunned the Boxing world, earning the name fighter of 2016 by Ring Magazine and ESPN.
This has lead Barry McGuigan, Frampton's manager, to name 'the Jackal' as the number 1 Boxer from the UK.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McGuigan said "Frampton is a pure boxer and a fighter's fighter. He is ahead of everybody at the moment."
He added "There is a lot of pressure on him but he thrives in pressure,"
"He's one of these unique individuals who loves the pressure you put on him, and the more people that are watching him. "I've said it before: he can be sparring in a fairly lacklustre way then suddenly half-a-dozen to 10 people come into the gym and he just transforms.
Frampton and Santa Cruz slugged it out in their first encounter, were according to CompuBox Frampton landed 36% of his punches (242 from 668), whilst Santa Cruz landed 25% of his punches (255 of 1,002 blows).
It was an excellent display of speed, stamina and strategy by the pair and a rematch had been on the cards practically since Frampton was declared the winner.
There was talk of the rematch being in Frampton's hometown of Belfast but these were quickly scraped for the famous MGM Grand.
Many are hoping for a Santa Cruz so there is a third fight to conclude the trilogy between the two.
However, if Frampton does win and retains his title, it seems likely there won't be a third fight between the two as British rival and current IBF featherwight champion Lee Selby called out Frampton for a featherweight unification bout at Windsor Park in Belfast.
Selby (23-1, 8 KO) will defend his IBF featherwight title on the undercard of Frampton vs Santa Cruz II against Argentinean Jonathan Victor Barros (41-4-1, 21 KO) and said at the media round at the MGM Grand "I want my fellow Brit Carl Frampton to win," "I was ringside for the first fight in July and I thought it was one of the most exciting fights I've seen."
He added "As long as I win too, which I'm confident I will do, then we can unify the belts back in the UK."
The pressure is on both boxers going into the much-anticapted rematch, with Frampton wanting to win to retain and go 2-0 up and Santa Cruz looking to retain his WBA featherweight title.
Whatever the outcome, it's going to be a hell of a fight.
Tale of the Tape
Name: Carl Frampton
Age: 29
Professional Boxing Record: 23 Wins (14 by Knockout, 9 by Decision), 0 Losses.
Name: Léodegario Leo Santa Cruz
Age: 28
Professional Boxing Record: 32 Wins (18 by Knockout, 14 by Decision), 1 Draw and 1 Loss (by Decision).
PREDICTION: A lot is on the line in this rematch. The title, the possibility of a third fight and the impact on the Boxing world.
With the way the first fight went in mind, I think that Frampton will do what he wished he could have done in New York and knockout Santa Cruz in the 10th round.
Carl Frmapton and Leo Santa Cruz pose ahead of their rematch for Frampton's WBA featherweight Championship.
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