Carl Frampton-Scott Quigg: Pre-Unification Report Card

By Cliff Rold

Just one week more than sixteen years ago, arguably the greatest fight in the history of the Jr. featherweight division kick started one of the great years boxing has seen. Before 2000 was over, fans would be treated to the classic first battle between Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley, the peak of Lennox Lewis’s dominance over the Heavyweight division with lopsided wins over Michael Grant and David Tua, and the savage war between Felix Trinidad and Fernando Vargas.

And that was just some of the quality action.

None of it could touch twelve rounds of mayhem between Mexican greats Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. Their unification war climaxed the chapter they’d spearheaded on Boxing After Dark and began the next chapter that would see them join Naseem Hamed, Manny Pacquiao, and Juan Manuel Marquez as pay-per-view franchises.

This weekend’s unification battle at 122 lbs. has high hopes (Sho Extreme, 5:30 PM EST). It would be a lot to ask for something as great as Morales-Barrera I. We can hope. Some of the ingredients for a classic are there.

Northern Irishman Carl Frampton and Englishman Scott Quigg have been circling each other for a couple of years. Both men are undefeated and in their prime. The 21,000-seat Manchester Arena was sold out almost as quickly as tickets went on sale. The political history between these two members of Her Majesty’s United Kingdom is well chronicled.

The history they create this weekend will be all their own.

Boxing in 2016 is off to a rough start. Heavyweight is suddenly feeling vibrant but its best matches are still over the horizon. So too are potentially mouthwatering but unsettled matches like Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward, Saul Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin, and Roman Gonzalez-Juan Francisco Estrada II. The welterweight clash between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter is postponed.

We’re actually getting Adrien Broner-Ashley Theophane. They weren’t kidding.

This year needs a spark in a bad way.

Are we going to get it?    

Let’s go the report card.

The Ledgers

Carl Frampton
Age: 29
?Current Title: IBF Jr. Featherweight (2014-Present, 2 Defenses)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’5
Weight: 121 ½ lbs.?
?Hails from: Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Record: 21-0, 14 KO
Rankings: #1 (BoxingScene, TBRB, BoxRec), #2 (ESPN), #3 (Ring)
Record in Major Title Fights: 3-0, 1 KO
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 3 (Steve Molitor TKO6; Kiko Martinez TKO9, UD12; Hugo Cazares KO2)

Vs.

Scott Quigg
?Age: 27
Title: WBA Super Bantamweight (2012-Present, 6 Defenses)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’8
Weight: 121 ¼ lbs.?
?Hails from: Bury, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Record: 31-0-2, 23 KO
Rankings: #2 (BoxingScene, TBRB, Ring), #3 (BoxRec), #4 (ESPN)
Record in Major Title Fights: 5-0-1, 4 KO (6-0-2, 5 KO including interim title fights)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 1 (Kiko Martinez TKO2)

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Quigg B; Frampton B+
Pre-Fight: Power – Quigg B+; Frampton B
Pre-Fight: Defense – Quigg B; Frampton B
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Quigg B+; Frampton B+

As good as this fight is, it won’t prove who the genuine world champion at 122 lbs. is. That honor still rests with Guillermo Rigondeuax, the lineal king. Both Frampton and Quigg have been honorable in admitting as much, in saying that no one is ‘the man’ in their division without knocking off the skilled Cuban.

But if Rigondeuax is the champion the world has, Quigg and Frampton fight to be the champion the world will want. The saying ‘skills pay the bills’ is only true to a point, especially when it is applied to mean that cerebral boxing is the surest way to steady wealth. The lower the weight class, the more often bills are paid most handsomely by way of genuine blood sport.

Morales and Barrera would never have become the icons they were if their prime styles more closely mirrored Hall of Fame countryman Miguel Canto. There just aren’t enough people who are rabid to see men below the featherweight limit in a thinking man’s boxing contest. It might not seem fair to some but it’s true.

Fans didn’t sell out Manchester in the hopes of seeing an exhibition of the sweet science. The frenzy of the crowd, the electricity that will be felt in the arena and by fans watching at home, will be palpable. They, we, gather to see a capital “F” fight.

There’s a damn good chance we’re going to get it.

Of the two, Frampton appears the better natural athlete and has quicker hands. That speed will matter because he also throws the straighter shots. Quigg, taller than Frampton, doesn’t have a style that will exacerbate his edge there. He fights slightly crouched. Frampton will have chances to come down the middle and counter Quigg at the center of the ring and anytime Quigg comes forward.

Quigg can offset some of that with a superior body attack. While Quigg has a good jab and can box, his best work is often down at close quarters. He can sometimes loop punches, but to the ribs that’s okay for him. He is punishing downstairs. Of the two, Quigg appears to have more frame to move up with success over time. He has to impose his physicality on Saturday.

Defensively, both guys are pretty good.

Frampton was down twice in the first round of his last bout with Alejandro Gonzalez. His adjustments from there were commendable. He did a good job of picking off shots with his gloves and displayed there, and in other fights, smart head movement. He’s also adept at making an opponent miss and coming right back with a snapping left or right.

Quigg hasn’t been down since a right hand from Jamie Arthur decked him in 2012. Quigg showed poise in the moment, rising immediately and then wisely taking a knee to wait for the toll of eight. He came back to cut and stop Arthur.

In terms of intangibles it’s hard to rate either fighter an “A” just yet. There are title numbers but the depth of opposition is just catching up. They’re still growing and being tested. Kiko Martinez was on a roll both times he fought Frampton and the “Jackal” answered the call big both times. Quigg’s win over Martinez last year showed he could make a statement when he needed one.

Now they have a chance to make a statement against each other and to the whole world. This is a match where we can start to see if one of them can truly emerge as an elite talent. Who will it be?   

The Pick

This is as legitimate a 50-50 fight going in as boxing could ask for. There are reasons to like both men. Frampton is quicker and more explosive. Quigg has a naturally bigger frame and hurting hands to the body. Both can press the action but Quigg is more natural off the front foot while Frampton is a dangerous counter puncher. Both men have been on the floor.

Both got up to win.

Both could be asked to do that again on Saturday. Early on, the superior speed of Frampton should make a lot of difference. Quigg is going to have to see it and solve it to win. Taking away Frampton’s countering room will be the key. If and when he gets inside, Quigg has to dig to the body and create opportunities later in the fight.

The thinking here is Quigg will do just that. As the rounds go by, control of the fight will slip to Quigg. The pick here is Quigg, wearing down Frampton enough by the second half for a late stoppage or deserved decision.

If we get something as good as it looks, let’s hope it sets a bar for the rest of the sport to clear in the next ten months of 2016.   

Report Card and Staff Picks 2016: 5-2

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com