#tony harrison

Though my mother was already two years dead
Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas,
put hot water bottles her side of the bed
and still went to renew her transport pass.

You couldn’t just drop in. You had to phone.
He’d put you off an hour to give him time
to clear away her things and look alone
as though his still raw love were such a crime.

He couldn’t risk my blight of disbelief
though sure that very soon he’d hear her key
scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief.
He knew she’d just popped out to get the tea.

I believe life ends with death, and that is all.
You haven’t both gone shopping; just the same,
in my new black leather phone book there’s your name
and the disconnected number I still call.

Photos by Amanda Westcott for Showtime

by Sarah Deming

BROOKLYN, N.Y.–The Barclays Center felt like Belfast Saturday night when Carl “The Jackal” Frampton took the “0″ from Leo Santa Cruz in a matchup of undefeated featherweights.

On paper, this Showtime main event looked like light work for Santa Cruz. With his eight-inch reach advantage and high punch output, Santa Cruz should have been able to keep Frampton at the end of his combinations all night long. Except that Santa Cruz is one of those tall guys who don’t fight tall. And Frampton is a very good boxer. And nobody loves their fighters like the Irish.

When the Jackal took the ring in silvery trunks that matched his eyes, the crowd sang Ulster football songs and waved North Irish flags. They cheered at the opening bell. They cheered when he landed his stiff jab. They cheered when he missed, but he wasn’t missing much.

In his first fight at 126 lbs., Frampton was heavier-handed than he had been at junior feather. The power differential showed in the second round, when he wobbled Santa Cruz momentarily. He tagged Santa Cruz again in the third with a right uppercut to the point of the chin and continued to score heavily in the fourth. 

In the fifth, Frampton boxed on the outside, timing Santa Cruz with the one-two and the lead right hand. It is a beautiful thing when a short man outboxes a tall one, a victory for straight lines and timing.

The sixth saw momentum shift as the two fighters stood toe-to-toe and traded. This favored Santa Cruz’s handspeed and high punch output. The seventh was another good round for Santa Cruz, who was working well to the body and head.

In the eighth, Frampton put his foot back on the gas and landed some heavy shots, although Santa Cruz continued landing at higher volume. The ninth was also close, with Santa Cruz pulling off a few virtuosic flurries at round’s end.  

In the last three rounds, the young titlist seemed to wake up and realize his belt was slipping away. Santa Cruz was an A-student, always smiling, always thanking everyone. It seemed unfair that the crowd should be so against him, but New York has never been a Mexican town. Frampton looked tired, but the warmth of the crowd seemed to flow into him, holding him up through Santa Cruz’s late rally.

Santa Cruz did enough to get a draw on one judge’s card, but this was overruled by scores of 116-112 and 117-111, making Carl Frampton the first Northern Irish fighter to win titles in two weight divisions.

In a lightweight special attraction, Mikey Garcia shook off the ring rust with a blowout of Elio Rojas, who hit the canvas four times en route to a fifth round stoppage loss. Garcia, newly emancipated from his promoter, plowed forward throughout the fight, while Rojas fought on his heels, brave but doomed.

In a battle of two old Brooklyn buddies, Paulie Malignaggi cruised to an easy unanimous decision over Gabriel “Tito” Bracero. The two were top amateurs together until their boxing careers took opposite paths, Tito’s derailed by jail, Paulie’s enriched by his talent for commentating. Both embraced for a long time at the end of the bout.

Bookending the undercard, Tony Harrison of Detroit and Tevin Farmer of Philadelphia gave slick American boxing lessons to plodding Eastern Europeans. Farmer’s decision win over Ivan Redkach was more fun to watch, like a sadistic dance. Harrison, on the other hand, had the crowd booing his caution as he boxed behind his Detroit shell until he caught Sergey Rabchenko with a fast right hand in the ninth. Class dismissed.

I skipped the post-fight press conference, even though I wouldn’t have minded looking at Carl Frampton in another costume change, under different lighting. Those icy blue eyes. Those tattooed shoulders. I wanted to drink a pint with him and ask why he took the nickname of a scavenger and what he thought about Brexit. 

But I had to feed my entourage, so we set off in search of beer and wings. This was the perfect night for an entourage, the kind of night that makes people lifelong boxing fans and that makes lifelong boxing fans happy to be alive.

by Seamus McNally

On July 30th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Mexico’s Leo Santa Cruz (32–0–1, 18 KOs) and Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton (22–0, 14 KOs) put their undefeated records on the line against each other in a matchup of two of the best boxers in the world south of 130 lbs. 

The highly anticipated fight between two of the biggest stars in the lower weight divisions is being promoted by DiBella Entertainment and will be televised live Saturday night on Showtime.

Chief support will be the return of undefeated contender Mikey Garcia of Oxnard, Calif. against Elio Rojas of the Dominican Republic. Both fighters have been out of the ring for two years thanks to contract disputes. Before his extended hiatus, Garcia, 28, was one of the hottest fighters in the sport. Editor Gautham Nageshrecently interviewed Garcia for The Wall Street Journal.

Also featured on Showtime will be Detroit junior middleweight Tony Harrison, who will face Sergey Rabchenko from Minsk, Belarus. The undercard on Showtime Extreme will include an all-Brooklyn welterweight battle between good friends Paulie Malignaggi and Gabriel “Tito” Bracero.

Santa Cruz established himself as one of the worlds premier bantamweights by the end of 2012 before deciding to move up to 122 lbs in 2013. In his super bantamweight debut that May, Santa Cruz defeated Venezuelan Alexander Munoz by fifth-round stoppage.

Santa Cruz put the rest of the division on notice a few months later in August with a statement third-round knockout win over super bantamweight contender Victor Terrazas of Mexico. Santa Cruz capped off 2013 with a unanimous decision victory over Cesar Seda in December.

2014 got off to a promising start for Santa Cruz, with a dominant decision win over contender Cristian Mijares in March. Santa Cruz actually called out Frampton after his win over Mijares, but the fight never materialized. Santa Cruz then starting drew the ire of fans by facing subpar competition in his next few fights, when there were plenty of big names in his division that he could have faced, namely Abner Mares. 

The criticism of Santa Cruz came to a crescendo on the Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard. Santa Cruz placed in the co-feature of the biggest fight of the 21st century, but instead of facing an elite opponent with the whole world watching, he took on former sparring partner Jose Catayeno in his first non 12-round fight in two years. Santa Cruz wasn’t even able to stop his overmatched opponent and had to settle for a shutout unanimous decision.

Finally fed up with hearing about his lackluster opposition, Santa Cruz gave the fans what they wanted and took on fellow Mexican Abner Mares in a featherweight bout a few months later in August. The fight lived up to the high expectations, with Santa Cruz winning a thrilling 12-round majority decision between the two Southern California residents in front of a raucous crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The action-packed win propelled Santa Cruz back into the good graces of fight fans.

Frampton has been a star in his native Northern Ireland and the surrounding countries for a number of years, routinely fighting in front of electric sold-out crowds in his hometown of Belfast. But his U.S. debut last July was surprisingly shaky. Frampton was dropped twice in the first round by the unheralded Alejandro Gonzalez before recovering to win a unanimous decision.

Frampton went back across the pond for a mega fight of his own, facing Scott Quigg in February in Manchester., England Frampton-Quigg was similar to Santa Cruz-Mares in that both fights took years to make despite high public demand. 

Unlike Santa Cruz-Mares, Frampton-Quigg did not live up to the high expectations. The bout was more of a tactical battle than a slugfest, and both fighters looked a bit tense under the huge spotlight. Nonetheless, Frampton got the better of his nemesis, winning a split decision and setting himself up for a second consecutive major fight against an unbeaten opponent.

Santa Cruz and Frampton share a common opponent, Kiko Martinez of Spain. Both fighters were able to stop Martinez. In February 2013, Frampton won the European super bantamweight title against Martinez with a ninth-round knockout at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. They had a rematch 19 months later in September 2014, this time at a makeshift outdoor arena in Belfast to accommodate more of Frampton’s legion of fans.

Frampton did not get the stoppage the second time, but was able to win a near-shutout decision. Santa Cruz faced Martinez in his most recent fight, which took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim on the same day as Frampton-Quigg. Santa Cruz took Martinez out in the fifth round.

A fight between two elite fighters, both undefeated and in their primes, is never easy to predict, and that’s why fans love this type of matchup. Santa Cruz is a come forward, action fighter who’s workrate in the ring is only surpassed by pound-for- pound king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. 

Frampton has a more calculated style, preferring to fight at a measured pace and landing precise counter shots. Frampton will gladly exchange leather when pushed, which should make for a very exciting scrap. 

Santa Cruz will be the bigger man on fight night, with a 3-inch height advantage and 7-inch reach advantage over Frampton. This is also Santa Cruz’s fourth fight at featherweight, while Frampton is fighting above the super bantamweight limit of 122 lbs for the first time. 

Prediction:Frampton will have the crowd behind him with a large contingent of Irish in the New York area. The fight will be a thrilling back-and-forth affair most of the night before Santa Cruz wears down the smaller man with his size advantage and pressure style in the championship rounds to eke out a close decision 115-113.