Haye Talks Frampton-Quigg and McGuigan Link Up

By Shaun Brown

David Haye is tipping Carl Frampton to do “something special” against Scott Quigg on February 27.

Frampton, the IBF Super Bantamweight champion and Quigg, the WBA Super Bantamweight champion square off at the Manchester Arena in one of the most eagerly awaited all-British dust-ups in years.

Haye, who returns to action on January 16 against Mark De Mori after three and a half years away, gave his verdict on the upcoming unification fight when Boxing Scene spoke to him recently.

“I see Frampton doing something special,” said Haye.

“I’ve been training with him and he’s in fantastic shape, he’s super motivated. He’s able to figure people out, he’s able to change a fight mid-fight if needs be. He’s very three dimensional with what he does and I see a late stoppage or points victory for Carl Frampton.”

Frampton’s winning performance in his first world title defence against Chris Avalos last February proved to be a telling factor for Haye, when deciding that the Northern Irishman's trainer Shane McGuigan was the man he wanted in his corner for his comeback. A night when the former cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion was working as an analyst for ITV who screened the fight.

“I was at Frampton’s fight when he fought Avalos. I was very, very, very impressed with how he controlled that fight. Boxed to a solid gameplan and won the fight. That’s how I like to fight. Go out there against a dangerous guy, shut him down. Whatever his strengths are you play against those and make sure he doesn’t land his shots and mix it up when he wants to.

“It was just a punch perfect performance for me. Shane’s trained this guy for a long, long time and if he can do that with him maybe he can add something to my repertoire. He’s not starting from scratch with me.”

And after a few sessions working with one of British boxing’s fastest developing coaches it wasn’t long before the two men clicked and understood one another.

“I said to him: ‘If I can get back to where I want to be would you be interested in working with me and take me back to the heavyweight championship?’ He said: ‘Hell yeah’. We did a few sessions and gelled from the first session. I got where he was coming from, he got where I was coming from.”

David Haye takes on Mark de Mori at The O2 on January 16, for tickets visit axs.com. Follow @mrdavidhaye for more information.

#HayemakerIsBack

Shaun Brown is Boxing Scene’s UK News Editor. Follow him on Twitter @sbrown2pt0 Contact him at sbrownboxing@gmail.com