BOXING: Carl Frampton named ESPN's top boxer 0f 2016
Belfast's Carl Frampton has been named as ESPN's top boxer of 2016.
‘The Jackal’ wins the US-based broadcaster’s award after a year when saw him defeat the previously unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz to win the WBA featherweight title and unify the super-bantamweight division by beating Scott Quigg in Manchester in February.
ESPN Senior Writer Dan Rafael said: “No other fighter in 2016 scored such an impressive combination of victories in high-profile bouts against elite opponents - in multiple divisions on the road - with one of them a contender for fight of the year.”
Frampton will fight Santa Cruz again in Las Vegas on January 28, beat off competition for the award from a list of fighters who included Manny Pacquiao, Andre Ward and Terence Crawford.