Carl Frampton was full of sound and fury at the weigh-in for Saturday’s colossal clash with five-weight world champion Nonito Donaire in Belfast.
‘The Jackal’ looked sensational on the scales as he clocked 125.3-pounds and then seized another opportunity to shine when a microphone malfunctioned. Shouting out the reading to the crowd himself, the hundreds who had packed the Europa Hotel’s ballroom roared back.
Donaire was also comfortably inside the featherweight limit at 125.8-pounds but despite the Filipino ingratiating himself to the locals at Thursday’s public workout, the time for light-hearted hospitality is giving way to gravitas.
While retaining graciousness and voicing his respect for Donaire’s illustrious achievements at every opportunity, Frampton has exuded a calm seriousness all week as he prepares to secure another world title shot with a career-best performance.
McKenna said afterwards: “He put on his earphones so he couldn’t hear me but I was reminding him that he's only had four weeks to train for facing me and that’s not enough."