Frampton strips down and vows to make Jackson pay
Carl Frampton has long dreamt of tonight’s occasion here in Belfast and insists that Australian Luke Jackson will regret his trash talk when they contest the interim World Boxing Organisation featherweight title in front of a sell-out crowd of 25,000 at Windsor Park.
Jackson, undefeated in 16 fights and a man saved from drug addiction and suicidal tendencies by a life in boxing, has claimed that Frampton – who had to strip naked behind a towel at the weigh-in to make 126lb – is past his best and looks heavy-legged in the gym. He has also been critical of the Belfast man’s amateur pedigree.
“He can say what he wants, but he has never boxed at the level I have,” countered Frampton, who has suffered one defeat – in a rematch with the brilliant Mexican Leo Santa Cruz – in his 26-fight career. “We talk about levels in this game and there are different levels. I have boxed at a very high level for a long time. This is the first time he has mixed it at a high level and he is not going to be able to cope,” said Frampton, who is eyeing a world title fight with either Josh Warrington, the International Boxing Federation champion from Leeds, or Oscar Valdez, the WBO champion, who is recovering from a broken jaw.
“He has been slightly disrespectful. He has tried to backtrack, but he has said these things. He has made his bed and he has to lay in it. He is getting it – he really is.”
Frampton goes into his third fight under trainer Jamie Moore and insists he has never been happier as a boxer. “The Jackal” needs to display his trademark fast hands and movement tonight. He should have the class to end the contest between rounds six and eight.
On the undercard, in only his sixth professional fight, Paddy Barnes, Ireland’s most decorated amateur boxer with two Commonwealth Games titles and two Olympic bronze medals, challenges Nicaraguan Cristofer Rosales for the World Boxing Council flyweight title.