THE JACKAL WAS let out of the bag on Sunday with the news that we will now be promoting the career of Carl Frampton and I am absolutely delighted to have him onboard. We will be hosting a press conference in Belfast on Wednesday to formally announce the union, while also revealing the date for his return to the ring and a couple of other major fights to mark the occasion.
Carl Frampton officially confirmed a story first reported by Shaun Brown of BoxingScene.com, revealing that he indeed signed a promotional deal with Frank Warren, which means the Jackal will fight on BT Sport and BoxNation - both of which are available outlets for Warren promoted fighters. The Northern-Ireland fighter, who held two world-titles in two different weight classes, recently split with longtime promoter/manager Barry McGuigan after an underwhelming year. And also split with head trainer Shane McGuigan and hired Jamie Moore.
Boxing Scene have been informed that Carl Frampton will tomorrow (Sunday, September 24) announce a promotional deal with Frank Warren. Details are scarce at this stage but 'Scene can, at least, confirm catergorically that Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Sports will not reunite with 'The Jackal'. Frampton, who split with long-time promoter Cyclone Promotions and manager Barry McGuigan last month has become one of the hottest free agents in boxing. It must be added however that the British Boxing Board of Control said last week that McGuigan was still contracted as Frampton's manager. It remains to be seen how that will come to its conclusion.
SO RIO FERDINAND wants to be a boxer. There will be – and already has been – a lot said and written about the 38-year-old former footballer taking a punt at the noble art as part of a promotional campaign by the bookmaker Betfair. Publicity-driven stunts such as this will always arouse suspicion amongst the cynics and I agree that boxing is never a sport that should taken up lightly.
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS may have been the headliner on Saturday but, earlier in the evening, there was only one man capturing the hearts and minds of many of those in attendance at the Copper Box. Due to a few of the things he has come out with in the past, Tyson Fury doesn’t appeal to everyone, but boxing fans recognise Tyson for his achievements and certainly have a great affection for him.
THE BOXING NAYSAYERS had their customary field day in the media on Monday, aiming their well worn slings and arrows in the direction of the sport because a ringside judge got a big call horribly wrong. To my mind – and probably that of most boxing people, although not all – Gennady Golovkin won the night against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in Las Vegas. Adalaide Byrd saw it differently and scored ten of the rounds to Canelo, leading to cries of corruption being levelled against boxing.
Billy Joe Saunders defends his WBO middleweight title against Willie Monroe Jnr on Saturday having been told a unification fight with Gennady Golovkin is essentially a "done deal". The 28-year-old fights his American opponent at London's Copper Box Arena just hours before Golovkin defends his WBA, WBC, IBO and IBF titles in his Las Vegas superfight with Saul Alvarez, and should he succeed, expects to fight the winner.
THIS WEEK WE gathered in Leeds to launch the promotion of our visit to the FD Arena on October 21 where the local lad made good, Josh Warrington, will hopefully negotiate the final step towards a shot at the IBF world featherweight title. It is fairly well documented that we sought to create a shortcut for Josh and made a hefty offer to the team of the current champion Lee Selby but, ultimately, the nature of the demands made told us they do not want the fight at this point in time.
Not so long ago we entered into dialogue with BBC Sport over the potential purchase of radio commentary rights for a night of boxing that surely demands the attention of our national broadcaster. It is a night with no shortage of British interest, with WBO world middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders making a defence against his mandatory challenger Willie Monroe jr and leading into probably the most highly anticipated fight of the decade between Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – with the winners of the two fights likely to face each other later in the year or early next.
QUITE HONESTLY, I don’t think there is much left to be said about the Mayweather-McGregor mismatch last weekend. We pretty much knew what we were going to get from the Money Man and it was always a case of when rather than if. I do want to make clear though, that surely nobody can question the heart of McGregor or his desire to win. The only thing we were all questioning was his boxing ability and that question was answered on the night.