Carl Frampton vs Leo Sta Cruz II is one of the most anticipated rematch in boxing. On Saturday, Jan 28 Frampton and Sta Cruz will do it again. In 2016, they fought a fight that was among the Fight of the Year candidate. In the above short preview clip Showtime discusses about last year's fight and the fighters preparation for this rematch.

Carl Frampton vs. Leo Santa Cruz II will be on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

In the co-main event, lightweight world champion Dejan Zlaticanin will meet former two-division champion Mikey Garcia in the opening bout on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Featherweight world champion Lee Selby will fight for the second time in the United States when he battles former world champion Jonathan Victor Barros in action on SHOWTIME EXTREME.

Nonito "The Filipino Flash Donaire" went to social media to apologize to his UK fans for not getting the Scott Quigg fight done. The 32-year old fighter from California was gunning for a showdown with the undefeated Quigg after winning his last two bouts by knockout since moving back super bantamweight division.

Nicholas Walters defeated Donaire in the featherweight division in October last year.

Donaire said that Quigg and his team "decided not to sign [contract] after months of negotiations", but he's still hopeful that one day he'll fight in the UK.

I personally like the fight to happen especially if it will take place in Dubai. Both men have supporters in the Emirates. There were significant numbers of Filipinos and British ex-pats in Dubai. Apart from that, there's a direct flight from UK and Philippines going to Dubai. And of course, it is also one hour and 30 minutes flight from Kuwait, which I might have a chance to watch live.

Anyway, what's stunning also is that Quigg, according to Donaire, is not fighting rival Carl Frampton either. He said that Frampton is fighting Shingo Wake - another solid contender at super bantamweight.

In another report, promoter Eddie Hearn mentioned that the Frampton-Quigg fight is very close. But according to Niall Doran of Boxingnewsandviews.com, the fight is possible in 2016.

[caption id="attachment_5911" align="alignnone" width="750"] Chavez connects a left to the head of Reyes. Photo: Naoki Fukuda[/caption]

The third week of July was perhaps the busiest boxing weekend. Here we compiled 23 results. That of course might not cover every result globally as there were professional bouts happening in the very remote areas of the globe. So that's in addition to these 23 fight results.

Here they are, the week's boxing results Roundup July 13-19:

18 July 2015

Julio César Chávez Jr. UD 10 Marcos Reyes

Chavez (49-2-1, 32 KOs) weighed over the the contracted 168-pound super middleweight limit during the official weigh-in. They let Reyes camp agreed to push the limit up to 170 pounds. Again Chavez weighed more than what is agreed. He came in at 170.8 pounds. Instead of shedding the extra baggage, he paid Reyes (33-3, 24 KOs) a penalty fee. He refused to undergo weigh-in during fight night to determine his weight. His estimated weight on fight night was between 190-200 pounds. Chavez is expected to dispatched early the undersized Reyes. But Chavez still unable to deliver what is expected, although he won on points. The official scores were: 97-92, 98-91 and 96-93.

Nonito Donaire TKO-2 Anthony Settoul

You can read here my fight report here: http://theboxingdiary.com/2015/07/donaire-delivers-a-spectacular-showing-in-macao.html

Cesar Rene Cuenca UD 12 Ik Yang

Cesar Rene Cuenca (48-0, 2 KOs) displayed a master class performance against tough brawler and China's hope for second world championship Ik Yang. Cuenca was able to lure Yang to a tactical fight from the opening round until Round 11.

He let Yang (19-1, 14 KOs) think of out-boxing him by staying in Yang's punching range but constantly moving from side to side and engaging from an angle. There's no way Yang can outbox Cuenca. Cuenca's punches were like good morning towel that wipes Yang's every morning. Yang did not make the drastic tactical adjustment until round 11, which was too late as Cuenca was too wide well ahead on the scorecards.

Yang forced Cuenca to a brawl in Round 12, which was really effective. Making it a war was Yang's right option if he wanted to win the fight but one round was not enough to rattle and topple the master tactician. Even a feather-fisted well-schooled boxer will always give trouble to a wild heavy-handed brawler.

Scott Quigg TKO 2 Kiko Martinez

If Nonito Donaire demolished Anthony Settoul in two rounds, Scott Quigg (31-0-2, 23 KOs) dispatched Spain's Kiko Martinez (32-6, 24 KOs) in two rounds too. This could set-up a Donaire-Quigg world title clash in the 122-pound division in Dubai, which is what promoter Bob Arum said. But it seemed the UK boxing fans were interested for a Quigg-Frampton showdown. Frampton won a UD against Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.

Carl Frampton UD 12 Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.

Still undefeated and held the IBF junior featherweight title Carl Frampton (21-0, 14 KOs) got up from twin knockdowns he suffered in the opening round and started racking up points from there. Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. (25-2-2, 15 KOs) lost two points for low blows. Official scores were: 116-108, 116-108 and 115-109. With Frampton's victory, UK boxing fans were excited of a Frampton-Quigg showdown but Quigg's trainer is looking the other way around.

Joe Gallagher, Quigg's trainer, is "interested in a Donaire fight" than a title match against Carl Frampton because of his past "experience" in dealing with Frampton's handlers.

McJoe Arroyo UD Technical Decision 10 Arthur Villanueva

A highly tactical super flyweight fight that appeared unpalatable to boxing fans ringside earning boos from them. The fight has been shortened by a deep cut resulting from accidental clash of heads and the fight went to the scorecards. Villanueva (27-1, 14 KOs) deducted a point in Round 6 for coming head-first. Official scores were: 98-91, 98-91 in favor of Arroyo (17-0, 8 KOs).

Other results for 18 July 2015 :

• Chris Jenkins Draw 12 Tyrone Nurse


• Amir Imam KO-4 Fernando Angulo


• Denis Shafikov TKO-3 Roy Mukhlis


• Darleys Perez Draw 12 Anthony Crolla


• Rex Tso TKO-4 Khunkhiri Wor Wisaruth


• Arthur Abraham TKO 6 Robert Stieglitz


• Fred Kassi DRAW Chris Arreola


• Charles Manyuchi TKO6 Gianluca Frezza


• Martín Murray TKO5 Mirzet Bajrektarevic

Results for 17 July 2015 :

• Sandor Martin TKO-1 Anzor Gamgebeli


• Suriyan Sor Rungvisai TKo-4 Ibuki Tanaka


• Srisaket Sor Rungvisai KO-1 Jack Amisa


• Jose Perez TKO-1 Rafael Castillo


• Takuya Kogawa UD 10 Hiroki Saito


• Nawaphon Por Chokchai (AKA Nawaphon Sor Rungvisai) TKO-3 Wiljan Ugbaniel


• Artem Dalakian UD 12 Angel Moreno


• Erkan Teper KO2 David Price

Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton did what he needs to do in the ring to be in line for a fight against Leo Santa Cruz (but looks like with the help of the referee to finish it early?) for the world super bantamweight title.

Transnational Boxing Ranking Board super bantamweight ranked number three Frampton (18-0, 13 KO) drops Cazares (40-8-2, 27 KO) with a counter left hook that sends him (Cazares) to the floor. Cazares legs were too wobbly that he stayed on the floor with his knees while listening to the referee's count.

Cazares was looking at Frampton and seemingly gestures acknowledgement of the great punch that put him down. But, it seems to me that the referee takes it as a gesture of submission. And after the count of nine, the referee waives it off, to the surprise of Cazares who immediately stands up and protests the referee's call. The official time of the stoppage: 1:30 in the second round.

What do you think of the stoppage?

Although it also looks like Cazares miscalculated the count and wasn't able to stand at the right time. But I think it's the referee's job to make sure the fighter knows the count.

Eamonn O'Kane KO 1 Alvaro Gaona

[caption id="attachment_2300" align="alignleft" width="300"] Eamonn O'Kane lands the perfect right hand over the top that stops Alvaro Gaona[/caption]

Eamonn O'Kane (12-1, 4 KO) delighted the ringside crowd in Belfast  knocking out Mexican Alvaro Gaona (13-4, 8 KO) in Round 1 with a perfect counter right hand to the face.

Gaona never recovered from that punch and the referee stops the fight. The official time of the stoppage 2:42 in the very first round.

Stephen Ormond TKO 5 Karim El Ouazghari

Ormond (17-1, 8 KO) stops Spanish challenger El Ouazghari (16-4-2, 4 KO) and retains his WBO European lightweight title. Ormond was in control of the fight, landing the crispier shots from the inside, constantly pressing the challenger on the back foot. In Round 4, El Ouazghari getting more confident and backs Ormond as he land combinations from range. But in Round 5 Ormond turns up the heat catches El Ouazghari with a counter right hand, that sends El Ouazghari knee to the floor. El Ouazghari immediately gets up that keeps Ormond going and landing another right hand that put his knee back on the floor. The referee holds Ormond to stop him from throwing more punches from already down opponent. The referee did the mandatory count but then stops the contest as El Ouazghari is in no position to continue.

Marco McCullough TKO 3 Elemir Rafael

Marco McCullough (9-1, 6 KO) had an easy work tonight stopping late substitute, journeyman Elemir Rafael (27-80, 5 KO's) 59 seconds in Round 3. Prior to the stoppage McCullough dropped Rafael in Round 2 with a left straight to the body and a right hand over the top. In the first round Rafael had success in covering up, fending the big shots from McCullough. But early in the second round McCullough throw in some big uppercuts that sliced Rafael's guard. In the third stanza, the referee stopped the fight as Rafael is in no position to defend himself.

Jamie Conlan TKO 7 Benjamin Smoes

Jamie Conlan now improved his record to 11 wins 0 losses, 7 KO's) and continue to be undefeated dropping Benjamin Smoes of Belgium in Round 6. And he finished Smoes, 23rd seconds in Round 7. Smoes  (9-3, 1 KO) took a knee in Round 6 due to accumulation of punches from Conlan who was all over him. In Round 7, Conlan didn't wasted time and immediately followed up with punches in bunches to dropped again Smoes. The fighter from Belgium was able to beat the count but the referee has seen enough and stopped the contest without any complain from Smoes.