By Jake Donovan
A showdown between Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton has been discussed for at least the past four years, when both rose to prominence on the domestic level. Their long-awaited grudge match now comes in the form of a super bantamweight title unification clash, taking place February 27 in front of a sold-out crowd at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
There’s certainly no shortage of motivation for either fighter, who quite frankly isn’t particularly fond of the other. From their own personal rivalry to the storied history between England and Ireland (with Frampton’s Belfast, Northern Ireland region often caught smack dab in the middle) to the titles at stake, the night will represent by far the biggest fight of either fighter’s career.
Some will downplay and claim it to be just another fight. Quigg’s mindset can be falsely interpreted along those lines in admitting he’s trained the same for this fight as for any other in a career coming up in nine years in the pro ranks.
“This is a tough fight, but I view every fight as the toughest challenge of my career,” Quigg (31-0-2, 23KOs) clarified during a recent media conference call to promote the event, which will air live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and SHO Extreme in the United States. “I’m never complacent in anything I do. It only takes one punch to turn around a fight.”
Quigg and Frampton (21-0, 14KOs) had the unique scenario of fighting on the same day but on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Frampton traveled to the United States for the first time in his career, having to climb off the canvas to rally and soundly outpoint second-generation boxer Alejandro Gonzalez, Jr. over 12 rounds last July in El Paso, Texas.
Meanwhile, it was a much easier night at the office for Quigg, who perhaps saw a wave of momentum shift in his favor in regards to this rivalry. In taking on Kiko Martinez – whom Frampton twice beat but both times in fantastic ring wars – Quigg managed to get the job done in just over four minutes of action. Martinez was dropped twice in round two, the fight ending in the very same round.
Whom is the more talented boxer will be determined later this month. Quigg believes, however, that the preparation he puts into the fight gives him the edge more so than any other intangible.
“Every fight is my toughest fight. My last fight with Kiko Martinez was my toughest,” Quigg insists. “Yeah it might have ended in two rounds but - with all of the work, the preparation that went into my training – was still my toughest fight to date.
“It ended the way it did because I fought to the best of my ability. The preparation makes the fight the easy part. Everything you do to prepare is the hard part. The fight – you go in there and enjoy it. You can’t go in and think this is going to be an easy fight. You have to go in thinking every fight is going to be 12 hard rounds. Anything else is a bonus. “
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
