Undefeated duo Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz face off on Saturday in Brooklyn in what is one of the best pairings to be made in boxing at the moment - but why is the bout between two of the world's top featherweights, and one of the most eagerly-anticipated bouts to feature an Irish boxer in years, flying so far under the radar?
The fighter they call 'The Jackal', who has fought primarily at 122lbs throughout his 22-fight career, essentially cleaned out his division. But, instead of taking a mandated fight with top contender and one of the pound-for-pound best figthers on the planet Guillermo Rigondeaux, Frampton - who had cited difficulty in making the super-bantamweight limit before respective victories over Alejandro Gonzales and Scott Quigg - opted to move up in weight and try his hand against rangy Californian fighter Leo Santa Cruz, himself a formidable and undefeated three-weight world champ.
If he wins, Frampton will announce himself on the global boxing stage as one of the top fighters on the planet - and a two-division champion. Why, then, with all that considered, isn't this fight a bigger deal on this side of the Atlantic?
How on earth has SANTA CRUZ-FRAMPTON gone under the radar so much ? It's pretty much a super fight. Someone's "0" has to go.
— james davies (@BoxingNews987) July 29, 2016
One reason that you may not have been inundated with the latest updates on the meeting of Frampton and Santa Cruz this weekend comes down to the broadcasting rights. The fight is taking place under the umbrella of BoxNation who don't have as much influence in Ireland and the UK as Sky Sports - nor the promotional clout to effectively hype the fight to as wide a customer base as possible. To boxing fans, the announcement that Santa Cruz-Frampton would land on Frank Warren's subscription-based network was a blessing, due to their superb coverage and analysis. In terms of the fight reaching the casual sports fan, it was a disaster.
If Sky had the rights to this fight, you can bet that you would be seeing it advertised on their various platforms. There would be standalone advertisements on their channels, and Sky Sports News would dedicate more minutes per hour to the fight than they are currently. It would feel big.
Frampton v Santa Cruz isn't big, it's huge - particularly in the USA where it will be broadcast on major network Showtime. But can anyone really say it feels that way over here? The entire fight card is better than average (hometown favourite and former two-weight world champ Paulie Malignaggi is on the undercard, as is the returning pound-for-pound star Mikey Garcia), and both Frampton and Santa Cruz have aggressive, in-your-face fighting styles.
The incredible rise to prominence of the UFC in the last decade has shown that there are different but often more effective ways to promote fight cards, and it seems that so many boxing promoters and many affiliated networks are still playing catch-up in this regard. Where UFC will lash out a string of viral-ready promos and neatly-packaged highlight reels to whet the appetite for a major event, BoxNation have done nothing of the sort due to a considerably more modest online presence.
Even Showtime, despite its global reach online, has only produced the one blood-curdling promo (though, in fairness, the fight is so feverishly anticipated in America they may have felt they simply didn't need to waste resources in hyping it any further).
'The Jackal' might be a self-made multi-millionaire, but he's earned his dosh via sheer pugilistic risk and subsequent achievement rather than over-exposure to the masses, at least outside his adoring hometown of Belfast. But despite this fight being relatively poorly promoted on this side of the pond, you can bet that if Frampton pulls off a victory in Brooklyn this weekend his future scraps will have a far bigger aura about them.
We might be looking at the best Irish professional boxer of the modern era. It's time to start treating him as such.
