Carl Frampton’s ambition of becoming a three-weight world champion could take place next May in Belfast.
After nearly a year out of the ring the Northern Irishman returned in impressive fashion on November 30 comprehensively outpointing Tyler McCreary inside the Chelsea Ballroom at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. A polished display, combined with accurate body shots which put the American down in the first and sixth round, have paved the way for the 32-year-old to face WBO Super Featherweight champion Jamel Herring.
“They were looking at maybe April for him [Frampton] to be back, maybe fighting Herring. They’re pretty advanced with the talks so hopefully that deal can be done. They’re probably going to look at May instead so that his hand is healed up in time,” Frampton’s trainer Jamie Moore told Boxing Scene.
“They’re talking about having it in Belfast but nothing is set in stone until the contracts are signed. At the end of the day Bob Arum is the one that’s going to make the decision on where it’s going to be but he likes the fact that it should be in Belfast because Carl does a lot of tickets. Herring’s the champion but he’s not the draw in that sense. It makes sense for him to come to Belfast because he’ll get paid more money. So by the sound of it they’re negotiating to get it in Belfast.”
Frampton’s 2019 has been one littered with setbacks, none more so than when suffering a bizarre hand injury in August before he was set to fight Emmanuel Dominguez in Philadelphia.
A broken bone in his left hand, after a large ornament hit his hand in a hotel lobby, left him devastated. The injury resurfaced during preparations for the McCreary fight and was then re-fractured in the second round of their fight.
“In terms of the severity, there’s obviously worse injuries out there but he does need a little op,” Moore revealed.
“They’re going to pin it because apparently that’s the safest thing and it’ll make it better in the future. Previously when he fractured it in the accident in Philadelphia it was a non-displaced fracture and because he’s fought it’s ended up displaced and out of line so it needs a little operation to make sure it’s back in line. But by doing that it shortens the recovery time because you don’t have to wait for it to heal because it’s already put back into place. It’ll stand him in good stead.
“There were problems with his hand during the camp. He banged it up early on as soon as he started sparring which meant he couldn’t spar properly until he got to Vegas.”
Should Herring against Frampton be finalised it would give ‘The Jackal’ the chance to become Ireland’s first ever three-weight world champion. Frampton excelled at 122lbs winning two world titles and put on a career best showing against Leo Santa Cruz to take the Mexican’s WBA Featherweight title in 2016. At 130lbs there are some size issues for Frampton to overcome, particularly against the large Super Featherweight frame of Herring. Moore is confident however that his charge has the skills, under appreciated they may be, to negate any challenge the southpaw champion would present.
“It’s not an easy fight by any stretch of the imagination,” Moore said. “He’s a big guy. I was stood next to him in the ring [after the McCreary fight] and I was thinking Jesus Christ he’s nearly as big as me! That in itself is going to bring its own problems and dangers but Carl Frampton’s skill set is underrated.
“He deals with the southpaw style pretty well. He’s proven a few times that he deals with height disadvantages well. He actually uses it to his advantage because he makes himself smaller which causes his opponent more problems. It’s not an easy fight but I’m sure the fight being in Belfast, the stage of career he’s at, the actual winning of a world title in a third weight and what it will mean to his career and legacy, all those things I feel will drive him on and put on a fantastic performance. Just gotta sit tight now and pull this deal together.”
Twitter @shaunrbrown