By Keith Idec

Carl Frampton feels the two knockdowns he suffered during the first round of his last fight actually worked wonders for his career.

Had Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. not dropped him twice in the first round July 18 in El Paso, Texas, Northern Ireland's Frampton is certain Scott Quigg would've avoided fighting him. Frampton overcame those two knockdowns to beat Mexico’s Gonzalez (25-3-2, 15 KOs) by unanimous decision (116-108, 116-108, 115-109).

Nevertheless, Frampton feels the vulnerability he showed during that bout encouraged Quigg to finally fight him. The 28-year-old Frampton (21-0, 14 KOs), the IBF super bantamweight champion, and the 27-year-old Quigg (31-0-2, 23 KOs), the Bury, England, native who owns the WBA world 122-pound championship, are scheduled to fight Feb. 27 in Manchester, England (Showtime).

“I think that my last fight was probably, I’m gonna call it a blessing in disguise,” Frampton said during a conference call Wednesday. “Because if I had won and blew Alejandro Gonzalez away in one or two rounds, then you guys wouldn’t be on the phone talking to me about fighting Scott Quigg. Because I had trouble in the first round is the only reason this fight happened. I’ve been chasing Quigg for a long time. I’ve been chasing him for at least four years, [since] when he was British champion. It’s only now that they want the fight. So again, a blessing in disguise.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.