THERE were shade of green in the Nevada desert yesterday as Carl Frampton fans from Belfast and all over Ireland took over Las Vegas to roar on ‘the Jackal’ at the weigh-in for his WBA championship rematch with Leo Santa Cruz.
Hall of Fame MC ‘the classy’ Jimmy Lennon jnr was almost drowned out by the raucous good-humoured fans, including Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill and former Ireland rugby star Stephen Ferris. “You’ve brought Belfast with you,” said the experienced announcer.
“Belfast has taken over Las Vegas tonight.”
Frampton said on Thursday that he was expecting 4,000 fans at the fight, but there were estimates that a 5,500-strong ‘Jackal Army’ could turn out to watch his world title defence.
Frampton, who weighed-in at 125lbs, as did Santa Cruz, paid tribute to the thousands of supporters who turned out to greet him at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“Thank you to everyone for coming here,” he said.
“I really appreciate you coming out and I’m going to send you all home happy.
“Last year was huge for me and I was glad to share the ring with a great champion like Leo Santa Cruz. Saturday night will be an outstanding fight and it’s one I’m going to win.”
Santa Cruz, who had a few pockets of support in the arena, added: “I’m very excited.
“This will be another hard fight.
“Carl Frampton is a great fighter but I’m here for the win and I’m going to go out there and I’m going to win.”
Meanwhile, there was bitter disappointment for Wales’ IBF champion Lee Selby whose fight with Jonny Barros was called off after the Argentinian failed to make the weight.
“I’m almost in tears,” he admitted.
“This was my big stage but I promise you I’ll be back. Hopefully I can get a quick win under my belt and I’d like to challenge the winner of Frampton versus Santa Cruz.
He added: “I’m very appreciative of the fans and thank you for coming out here.
“Sadly the fight isn’t happening. I came here, I prepared well and I made the weight but for some reason Barros didn’t.”
At super-lightweight, Frampton’s McGuigan’s Gym stablemate Josh Taylor hit the scales at 142lbs while his opponent Alfonso Olvera weighed in at 140lbs.