Former world champions Carl Frampton and Nonito Donaire took questions from the media at Wednesday’s final press conference at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, Ireland two days ahead of their clash for the interim WBO Featherweight Title this Saturday. The main event bout from SSE Arena in Belfast, will stream live to U.S. audiences via SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook Page.
The SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL® livestream will begin at 5:15 p.m. ET/2:15 p.m. PT with coverage provided by BT Sport and BoxNation and featuring commentary by U.K. sportscasters John Rawling (blow-by-blow) and former featherweight world champion Barry Jones (analysis).
Frampton (24-1, 14 KOs), of Northern Ireland, and Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs) of General Santos, Philippines, are two past Fighter of the Year award winners who will meet in a 12-round bout. The winner of this fight will be in position to challenge WBO Featherweight Champion Oscar Valdez, who is recovering from injury following his fourth title defense, a unanimous decision win over Scott Quigg on March 10.
This is the first of three high-stakes featherweight fights on SHOWTIME® platforms featuring five of the consensus top-10 ranked featherweights in the world. On May 19, IBF World Champion Lee Selby will defend his 126-pound title against undefeated Josh Warrington live in the U.S. on SHOWTIME Sports social media platforms and on June 9, Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares will meet live on SHOWTIME in a highly anticipated rematch for the WBA Featherweight World Title.
The livestream of Frampton vs. Donaire will precede Saturday evening’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® tripleheader that features former four-division champion Adrien Broner and former champion Jessie Vargas in a 12-round welterweight bout live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In the co-feature, Jermall Charlo will face Hugo Centeno Jr. for the interim WBC Middleweight World Championship and Gervonta Davis will meet Jesus Cuellar for the WBA Super Featherweight World Championship.
Below is what Frampton, Donaire and their respective trainers had to say at today’s press conference:
Carl Frampton
“I’m really excited about this fight and I have been since it was announced. To have a guy like Nonito Donaire coming to Belfast to fight me almost feels like a bit of an honor. It’s a quality fight.
“It’s a cliché when fighters talk about how good their camp has been, but I genuinely believe that the camp that I’ve had has been the best camp because it’s been my smartest camp. I’ve had a completely different approach to training. I don’t remember having a bad day in training or sparring. I feel like everything is coming together and I’m ready to put on a big performance in front of my home crowd.
“Some people want the easiest fights possible but that’s not me. I don’t think that’s Nonito either. I want to be in fights that people talk about and are interested in. This is a fight that puts the winner in position to fight Oscar Valdez for a chance to be a world champion again. When I’m in that position to fight for a world title, it’s fights like this one that are preparing me to go and win it.”