By Terence Dooley
Chris Sanigar, the trainer and manager of IBF featherweight holder Lee Selby (25-1, 9 KOs), has rubbished Barry McGuigan’s claim that Carl Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) would be the biggest draw if a fight between the two featherweights comes to fruition.
Frampton’s promoter made the claim prior to his charge’s aborted fight against Andres Gutierrez, which was axed after the Mexican slipped and injured his face while getting into the bath on Friday. It was the second part of a double whammy for McGuigan after his man failed to make the featherweight limit by a single pound on Friday afternoon.
The Belfast-based boxer is rated at number one with the WBC and three with the IBF, the clash against the Mexican visitor was pencilled in as a WBC eliminator prior to his slip up on the scales and Gutierrez’s slip in the bathroom, but this would have only applied to the visitor following Frampton’s weight problems.
There has been talk of rearranging the match yet there have also been rumours that Selby against Frampton could be a viable option as the Welshman is free to make a voluntary defence of his title after overcoming mandatory challenger Jonathan Victor Barros (W12 in June), but Sanigar told Andy Watters of The Irish News that his boxer now holds all the cards following recent events.
“Lee Selby is the A-card in this fight,” he insisted. “Lee is the champion, the undefeated champion and he's defended the title three times. They're the ones that went out and got beat [against Leo Santa Cruz in their January rematch].
He added: “Barry can see it however he likes to see it, but we're the champions, our man is the champion...I don't know what the situation with Frampton is. Are they going to reschedule the Gutierrez fight? We've had the mandatory and we're now free to do as we please. It's possible for September/October if we get the call, but we've never had the call.”
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