Carl Frampton Homecoming Card: Carroll vs. Geraghty II Added
By Elliot Foster
Jono Carroll and Declan Geraghty will meet again later this year.
The super-featherweight duo, who are both southpaws, have agreed terms on a return of their showdown three years ago.
The pair put on an epic fight at the 3Arena back in November 2014 –– a clash that was voted the Boxing Union of Ireland Fight of the Year.
Carroll, the current IBF European champion, was handed the win after Geraghty was disqualified.
And he will put his belt at stake, which he won back in June against John Quigley, on November 18, exclusively live on BT Sport and BoxNation.
The fight will make up part of the undercard to ‘Frampton Reborn’ at the SSE Arena in Belfast.
The pair have each had their say on the fight, with Carroll feeling like the return is somewhat unnecessary.
“I feel like I’m going over old ground a little but it’s a fight that I need to get out of the way to push on with my career,” he said. “I want to be remembered as a fighter that accepted every fight that came his way.
“It’s going to be an exciting fight and one that the fans have been asking for. I always said it would be a great fight for a title and I’ll give him his crack no problem, let’s get it on.
“Deco is a one-dimensional fighter and can only box, he can’t fight. In the first fight, I knew I’d drag him into a fight and I’m going to do it again. If he stands and bangs I’m going to spark him out, his legs will slow down and then I’m going to smash him up.”
And for his part, Geraghty is keen to put the record straight and right what he believes was a wrong when they met in the ring the first time around.
He said: “The chance to fight and defeat him is my motivation for this one. The belt is a bonus but it’s not the main focus. I wanted the rematch straight away but now is a good time as we are both still young and fresh.
“This one is like Christmas come early for me. I’m looking forward to the challenge and I believe that I will put a lot of things right in this fight and then put this situation between us to bed.”
The show will be topped by the homecoming of the three-time world champion Carl Frampton and will double up as the Tigers Bay man’s debut under Frank Warren and Queensberry Promotions.
Also on the card, Jamie Conlan finally gets his opportunity to fight for global honours when he challenges Jerwin Ancajas for the IBF super-flyweight bauble, Paddy Barnes –– following an outing on October 6 in Edinburgh, Scotland –– will defend his WBO European flyweight title against an opponent to be confirmed and Zolani Tete puts his WBO bantamweight world title on the line against fellow South African Siboniso Gonya.
Further undercard announcements are set to be made in due course.
