By Terence Dooley
As you may have gathered, the U.K. boxing scene is slightly topsy-turvy. We don’t do things in moderation; it is either a case of tumbleweeds at dawn or a night at the opera. The unveiling of Scott Quigg as a Matchroom fighter on Wednesday afternoon followed on from Carl Frampton’s move to Frank Warren and BoxNation on May 30 and has thrown the British boxing community into a bit of a tizz.
You want more drama? Throw in Warren’s revelation from Thursday that a ‘big offer’ had been tabled for a Frampton and Quigg showdown in September. An offer that Warren said was turned down flat by Eddie Hearn, who has told BoxingScene that his decision to pass was partly based on his belief that the fight could not be done and dusted for a September date.
“I've just seen Frank Warren's statement,” said Hearn. “Andy Ayling [a long-time associate of Frank Warren] sent me an email this morning asking if we wanted it for early September. I said 'No' and that it's a bit too soon for that fight. Scott only boxed in November [a sixth-round stoppage of Rendall Munroe] and the WBA have got to order this world title fight between Scott and Yoandris Salinas, so I don't know what's going to happen.
“Scott would fight Carl tomorrow and vice versa, because that's what they're like, but I didn't receive the offer and go 'Wow'. Frank makes these offers because he needs the exposure. We know what it's all about. The plan now is activity, getting Scott out and getting people excited.”
Quigg has inked a five-fight deal with his new promotional outfit and will feature on Matchroom’s June 29 bill at the Bolton Arena, which should set him up for a tilt at the WBA’s full world title; he is currently their interim title-holder.
“I was talking to Hatton Promotions about doing a show at the end of June with them, but we signed David Haye and that went out the window,” revealed Hearn. “Then we had a call late last week to say that Scott had parted company with the Hattons, so we jumped at the chance. I believe he is self-managed with the Board, you'll have to speak to him about that, but we had confirmation from him and his legal team that he was free to enter into an agreement with us. It wasn't a problem. We got the deal done very quickly.
“We'll be looking at this year and end of 2014 to have those five fights with him. He's not fought since November, and then he only did five rounds, before that he was out in June [a third-round Technical Draw with Munroe] so he ain't had the rounds in. That's the first priority. We're in a situation where we'll be offered the WBA title fight with Yoandris Salinas for the full belt, and we were talking about the possibility of fighting [Jonathan] Romero for the IBF title on the Darren Barker bill in August, but that won't be possible. We'll get this one out the way on the 25th then start talking about that WBA world title fight.”
Quigg holds an imposing 25-0 (18) record. His lofty ranking with the WBA coupled with the unlikelihood of securing a fight with their ‘Super’ champion Guillermo Rigondeaux means that Quigg’s ascent to a crack at the vacant regular title should be rubberstamped soon, which is music to the ears of his new promoter.
“A couple of things fascinate me about Quigg,” said Hearn. “For one, he hasn't been out the gym since last November, he has terrific determination and drive. He's also had 25 fights and he's only 24 — that's quite unusual in itself. I've never worked that closely with him, but people tell me what a great fighter he is. I'm looking forward to finding out just how good Scott is, and how far we can push him.”
Still, many fans feel that the events of the past week have kyboshed any chance of a showdown between Quigg and Frampton, the two best Super bantamweights in the country. It does look a bit surreal, with one fighter leaving Matchroom and the other coming into the fold. Hearn, though, confirmed what Frampton told me yesterday by revealing that he had notified “The Jackal” of their desire to bring Quigg into their stable.
"We were talking with the Hattons and told Carl and Barry that we were doing it to try and make the fight,” revealed Hearn. “It was never a case of ‘lose one and bring in another’. I would have taken Scott on had he approached me last week. If we'd still had Carl he'd have joined anyway.
“Don't forget, Scott is in a better world position than Carl because he's got the interim title already. They're both great fighters, we won't take anything away from any of them, but Scott's in a great position so we'll get him out this month and then get him out again. He's already done his tickets. He came back today and ordered a load more. People want to watch him fight. They haven't been able to do that so there's demand.”
Both Frampton and McGuigan spoke to BoxingScene on Wednesday. They went into great detail when arguing their corner and the issue of having a succession of shows over in Belfast, where Frampton is a huge star, was a key sticking point. Higher production costs for Sky, coupled with a dip in ratings, have turned Belfast into a less attractive proposition for Hearn.
“This is the problem about going to Ireland,” he said. “The last two Carl did were two of our worst rated shows on Sky. The problem is that the bills were brilliant, but the ratings were terrible. It is expensive production-wise to go to Belfast, so it is difficult for me to ask Sky to go out there if it rates badly.
“Prior to that show, we had Kell Brook on the 20th of October, then 3rd of November with the [Light-middleweight] Prizefighter, then we had Froch [versus Yusaf Mack] on the 17th of November, then we had [Darren] Barker and [Kerry] Hope on the 8th of December and then Frampton [versus Kiko Martinez in February], which was one of our lowest-rated audiences. When he boxed in September [a stoppage of Steve Molitor] it was worse, but there was [Ricky] Burns and [Kevin] Mitchell that night, so that's why I've just included Martinez.
“Let's just say that the ratings were significantly less than Brook, Barker, Bellew, Froch and the Prizefighter. I'm not slating Carl, or his viewing figures, but it is hard to go to your broadcaster and paymaster and ask to go over to Belfast for a load more money when it doesn't rate. It is about viewers.”
Frampton, though, argues that he was not given the same big build-up as other Matchroom fighters, who are regulars on the weekly Ringside show. Hearn disagrees with Frampton’s assessment over the amount of effort and energy Sky put into him.
He said: “He got much more push than, say, the Barker fight in December, but it rated about 30 percent lower. I don't know whether it is that all-Irish shows don't appeal to the British public as much as all-Liverpool shows or something like that. All I can do is give you the facts, and the fact is that after the Martinez fight I had a conversation with Barry on the Monday. I'd phoned him to tell him what a great night it was and he told me he wanted to be involved promotionally and that was it. I said he could do his own thing if that's what he wanted.
“I could have set Carl up a fight in the summer for the IBF title, not a problem, but I let Barry go out to do it. The one thing that pisses me off is Frampton saying we didn't get in touch with them for three or four weeks at a time — that's total bollocks. Yeah, I hardly dealt with him directly, but I dealt with Barry, so I don't know what messages went back from Barry.
“After that last conversation, I let Barry do his own thing, but they had nothing on the table and by then it was too late to go to Belfast again. You can't arrange in May to go there in June or July, it is not happening. I offered the fight on the Luke Campbell bill in Hull (in July).”
He added: “My deal with Frampton was fight-by-fight, this is an important thing to point out. If you want commitment from me and Sky, to be a priority, then how do you expect it when you're on a fight-by-fight deal. Barry never wanted to sign a long-term deal because he always had a plan, and I knew that from the start. That's not a problem because you need to know what you're dealing with.
“I think I did a great job with Frampton, but let’s talk about priorities. The priorities to me are people who pledge their long-term future to Matchroom. If I was a fighter, the first thing I'd do is make sure my long-term future was pledged to Matchroom. Barry wanted a fight-by-fight deal. I'd told Barry after the Martinez fight that I wanted to sign a long-term deal. He said he wanted to be co-promoter. I told him I didn't want that and the shit hit the fan.”
Despite the lack of a long-term deal during Frampton’s spell with Matchroom, Hearn maintains that he did a fine job of building Frampton’s profile. “I knew from day one what the plan was,” he said.
“I put my heart and soul into promoting Carl, and we did a great job, but when you know that the long-term plan of the manager is to also be the promoter then it becomes very difficult for the relationship to blossom and grow, and that's essentially why it broke down. I got to the stage where I said: 'I'm not going to have it anymore'. As I said yesterday, people are experts in certain fields. I'm not a dentist. I don't go into a surgery and try to perform a root canal. I'm a promoter. If someone wants to be involved who is not a promoter and doesn't understand the landscape the way I do then I'm not interested.”
Hearn is now completely focussed on the career of Quigg and intends to raise his profile in much the same way he believes he elevated Frampton during their time working together. He said: “I'm not in the Carl Frampton business, I'm in the Scott Quigg business, and I'm excited by that.
“I put a lot into Carl. I love the kid and think he's a great fighter. The nights in Belfast were so enjoyable and memorable — I'll never forget them. Now I’m going to put my heart and soul, and probably a little bit more, into making sure that I do a tremendous job for Scott.”
Still, the fans care more about genuine 50-50 domestic showdowns than interim titles and picking up the fragments of a division in which Rigondeaux is the main man. Many still want to see Quigg versus Frampton, and Hearn offered them a ray of hope.
“I don't think this fight is any further away than it was,” he insisted. “I've been in both camps. Let me tell you, Scott is not a priority for Carl — the priority is to win a world title. Carl's not saying he wants to fight Scott, and Scott's not saying he wants to fight Carl — the bottom-line is that they both want to win a world title.
“It was the same with the middleweights, Macklin and Barker, they want to win a world title, and unless the money's outrageous to avoid fighting for a world title that's the route they want to take. Boxing fans should be please because Scott's going to be fighting very, very often on sky. I'm sure the fight will happen.”
“We've got a great platform on sky. Don't forget, we built Frampton's following up. He wasn't going to Belfast two years ago and doing 5000 tickets. We had some great fighters on the bills and some great ticket sellers as well.”
And that was the end of that. Well, almost. Hearn called back a few minutes later after reading BoxingScene’s interview with McGuigan and Frampton. Hearn had one major bone of contention, namely Frampton’s claim that he is getting five times more money for his next fight than he got for his meeting with Martinez.
“I was surprised by his comment,” said Hearn. “Carl got a huge purse in his last fight for a European title challenge.”
Should both men net a world title they will probably need a wheelbarrow to take home their dough if they sign on to meet each other, as long as Hearn, McGuigan and Warren can thrash out a deal. Then it is just a matter of treating ourselves to the site of the three men sitting together at ringside.
“It will be great, we'll have a great time!” laughed Hearn.
Click on the following link to hear McGuigan and Frampton’s side of the story: https://www.boxingscene.com/frampton-mcguigan-discuss-warren-deal-quigg-more--66559
Please send news and views to neckodeemus@hotmail.co.uk or Twitter @Terryboxing.
