By Terence Dooley
Belfast’s Carl Frampton has once again outlined his reasons for not taking up Eddie Hearn’s offer of a guaranteed 1.5 million pounds for a unification fight with Bury’s Scott Quigg. Hearn made the offer live on Sky Sports News earlier this week only to be rebuffed by Frampton via a release sent out by Clones Cyclone Promotions, Barry McGuigan’s promotional outfit.
Frampton has used his column in today’s Northern Ireland Newsletter to explain why he doesn’t consider Hearn’s offer to be an enticing one. ‘On Tuesday at a press conference in Matchroom Sport’s headquarters, Eddie Hearn and Scott Quigg made me a very public offer to fight Quigg on Sky PPV, on July 18 in Manchester,’ wrote the IBF Super bantamweight champion.
‘They even produced a cheque with my name on it to the tune of £1.5 million. (I’m surprised it wasn’t one of those giant novelty cheques...). £1.5 million is undoubtedly a lot of money. But does that mean I should snap it up with both hands? Absolutely not, and there are a number of reasons why. It’s a flat rate offer, which means that no matter how well this fight does at the box office, this is the most I’ll receive. This will not, however, be the same case for Scott Quigg and Matchroom Sport. Many would agree this fight will do extremely well at the box office considering that in Eddie and Scott’s words, it’s one of two Super Fights in the UK. If PPV targets are reached this fight can bring in £10 million and potentially as much as £12 million. Once the broadcaster’s cut is deducted and other costs are dealt with, on the basis of this offer, the real winner of this fight in monetary terms will be Scott Quigg and Matchroom Sport.
‘Now, it doesn’t seem fair that the legitimate World Champion should travel to the challenger’s backyard, under his team’s terms and fight for considerably less money than him, does it? It’s not rocket science and there’s more to this offer than meets the eye. The bottom line is, without me Scott Quigg has very little options. Without Scott Quigg I have many. I would be very happy to continue my career in front of millions on ITV, with big paydays and perhaps a debut in the USA.
‘However, I really would love to silence Quigg, his team and the hundreds of fans that follow him once and for all. So please, the next time you make an offer, make it a realistic one.’
Hearn respond immediately via his Twitter account when Frampton dropped a link to the column. ‘zzzz fact is we are putting offers on the table..and you aren't! If the offer is that bad then make us one?’ he Tweeted. ‘also..if it makes as much money as you stated in your link, why have you also turned down 60-40 for the winner?’
The “Will they, won’t they?” sage has rumbled on for a few years. The fight looked unlikely when both fighters were showcased on Sky, almost impossible now that Quigg is on Sky and Frampton’s on ITV, especially given the recent claim from Team Frampton that negotiations have fallen to the wayside. It is a frustrating saga for British fans, who are desperate to see the two exchanging blows in the boxing ring, rather than on Twitter, which is de rigueur in the sport these days.
The presence of Guillermo Rigondeaux at the top the division also adds a wrinkle to the mooted bout. Neither man is in a position to fight the Cuban right now, but a partial unification and a win would give the victor the belts and big fight experience required to fight the division’s number one. Although Quigg technically won the right to fight him when picking up the WBA belt, as WBA rules state that the “Regular” and “Super” champions should eventually meet and there has been talk of enforcing this position from Rigondeaux's team.
In the meantime, the Mexican standoff will continue and British boxing fans will have to follow the Twitter war of words despite the fact it’s a phoney war that will not produce a clear winner or provide an answer to the question of who is the better boxer.
Please send news and views to @Terryboxing.
