New York’s Irish treat Carl Frampton as their own, not L.A.’s Leo Santa Cruz

Reporting from NEW YORK â€”  Leo Santa Cruz’s wish to venture outside his comfort zone of Southern California for a big fight was met with throaty resistance Friday.

A massive throng of Irishmen supporting Santa Cruz’s Saturday opponent, Carl Frampton, at the weigh-in adds an interesting wrinkle to the Showtime-televised World Boxing Assn. featherweight title bout at Barclays Center.

“It’s not my hometown. I’m the one who’s going to feel the pressure, but that’s all right,� Santa Cruz said after weighing in at 125 ½ pounds while Frampton was at 125 ¼. “I’m going to go out there and … give my best fight to the fans.�

Santa Cruz (32-0-1, 18 knockouts) carries significant physical advantages into the bout, particularly the seven more inches of reach (69 inches to Frampton’s 62) and nearly three inches of height.

In a study of CompuBox punch statistics, which included Santa Cruz’s staggering 142 punches thrown in the first round of his fifth-round technical knockout of Kiko Martinez in February at Honda Center, Showtime found Santa Cruz boasts boxing’s best divide between punches landed and punches hit by.

“We have to be smart, use our reach first, keep him on the outside, go jab-jab-right,� Santa Cruz said. “My kind of fight is always going forward, but my dad says to keep him away at first and if I feel he’s not hurting me, then go for it and make it a fight.�

The 5-feet-5 Frampton (22-0, 14 KOs), the WBA/International Boxing Federation super-bantamweight champion, is used to giving up size and pounding his opponents inside, said his trainer and former world-champion fighter, Barry McGuigan.

“He’s spent his life dealing with more length and height. That’s who we train with all the time – guys three or four divisions above him,� McGuigan said. “He likes bigger guys – there’s more of them to hit.�

Frampton also has sentimental reasons to win, considering McGuigan won three WBA featherweight title fights in 1985-86.

“I believe I have the power to knock him out. I’m faster at 126 [pounds],� Frampton said. “Leo Santa Cruz is a high-volume worker, but I think I can match or better that. If he catches you on the end of one of his long punches, he can hurt you. He has good leverage. It killed me to make 122, and that hurt my resilience to take a shot.�

Frampton sought to make New York a comfortable home fight after getting knocked down twice by Alejandro Gonzalez in the first round of his 2015 trip to the U.S., in El Paso.

After negotiating to keep the fight outside of California, Frampton trained here for a month and will be supported by the type of crowd that showed up Friday.

“We really pounded the Irish market,� New York promoter Lou DiBella said of the Premier Boxing Champions card that should draw 8,100 fans.

Showtime Executive Vice President Stephen Espinoza said it’s wise for Santa Cruz to make his 12^th Showtime/CBS appearance outside Anaheim, Carson or Staples Center as greater fights loom. In attendance Saturday will be Santa Cruz’s fellow featherweight world champions Gary Russell Jr. and Lee Selby, with Jesus Cuellar watching in the Southland.

“There’s a tier of top guys willing to fight each other. It’s a golden age in the division,� Espinoza said.

The card, which begins at 6 p.m. Pacific, also includes the return of former Southland world champion Mikey Garcia (34-0, 28 KOs), who meets Elio Rojas (24-2, 14 KOs) in a junior-welterweight bout.

Garcia hasn’t fought since January 2014 following a contract dispute with his former promoter. He said he’ll fight again this year and seeks unbeaten World Boxing Organization champion Terry Flanagan of England.

“The waiting is finally over, it’s a relief,� Garcia, 28, said. “I’m going to do everything I can to show we haven’t lost the touch. I want to impress.�