QUIGG THINKS I AM WEAK... HE’S WRONG!
Frampton says rival in for shock
THEY are so accustomed to wars down on America’s Mexican border that a fist-fight there last summer passed largely unnoticed. Amid the gun-battles with drug cartels and people smugglers, a scrap between a Belfast boxer and a Mexican warrior was a minor occurrence.
Yet that dust- up in El Paso proved to be the catalyst for a world-title fight in Manchester tonight which has fired the public imagination, not only on these shores but around the world.
When Carl Frampton was knocked down twice in the first round, one person paying very close attention was Scott Quigg.
Although Frampton got up to win that fight with Alejandro Gonzalez, convincingly on points, Quigg had seen enough to reinforce his conviction that he can beat his rival world champion.
After four long and frustrating years, this match was made. These two British bantam-cocks, each bursting with pride and brimful of confidence, will at last settle their differences in the ring.
Quigg, the hometown boy from Bury, says: ‘ Carl’s image was dented over there in the US. Those knockdowns left him with no option but to front up and fight me.’
Frampton, the champion of peace in Northern Ireland, says: ‘It’s no coincidence that Scott has finally agreed to this fight after watching what happened in El Paso. He believes he saw a weakness in me.’ Quigg adds: ‘I’ve always known I can beat him.’
Frampton hits back: ‘Sorry, but he’s made a big mistake. I took that fight with Gonzalez too easily. Not this one.’
By climbing off the canvas that hot night in Texas, Frampton ensured that both he and Quigg come to this showdown as undefeated world champions.
That guaranteed them a big pay-night worth £2million to Quigg and £1.5m to Frampton.
Except in the highly unlikely event of a draw, one of them must now suffer a defeat made all the more agonising with it being inflicted by their deadliest rival.
The last time either of them lost was as an amateur.
Quigg recalls the pain: ‘It wasn’t a big fight but when I didn’t get the decision I was banging and kicking the walls. I will never let that happen again. Least of all against Carl. I’m a bad loser. But a good loser is a born loser.’
Frampton remembers: ‘It was against a Russian in an international team event in the Czech Republic. I lost it by a point, 3-2. But I had the satisfaction of hurting him badly with a great shot in the last round. So, no, it doesn’t bother me now.’
Quigg insists that his near-monastic devotion to training and fighting to the virtual exclusion of all else will be decisive. He says: ‘ Nobody lives the boxing life like I do.’
Frampton believes he has superior skills and that his obsessive attention to detail will cement victory.
He says: ‘Those knockdowns in America were the best thing that could have happened to me. Not only did they tempt Scott into this fight but I will never be that complacent again.
‘I’ve been in training camp 17 weeks for this one. Nothing has been left to chance.’
Frampton has insisted on his name being first on the posters, entering the ring last, being announced second by Michael ‘Let’s Get Ready To Rumble’ Buffer, the ring being as large as permitted and having three Americans among the officials, including the referee.
He and his team have been accused by camp Quigg of obsessive nit-picking but they liken their approach to that of Tyson Fury before his sensational world heavyweight title upset of Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury argued about everything from the gloves to the flooring of the ring in Germany and Barry McGuigan, Frampton’s legendary promoter, says: ‘The small details are very important. They all add up.’
The dispute over which of them should use the ‘ star’ dressing room in the Manchester Arena — which saw both men threaten to quit the fight — was yet another example of the bickering. The widespread expectation is it will all end in a famously close and exciting fight. A 50-50 battle which is too close to call. Neither boxer fully agrees.
Quigg: ‘Carl’s a good fighter but I will be too strong and too clever for him. I will weaken him with body shots and knock him out.’
Comparisons are even being made with the three epic fights between Mexican greats Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, with the prospect of a re-match between Frampton and Quigg already under discussion.
FRAMPTON: ‘ There won’t be a trilogy with us. There’s no clause in our contract for a re-match and I don’t expect there to be one. This is a comfortable win for me.
‘I would love this to be a thriller for the fans but I’m afraid it will be too one- sided in my favour. Scott’s a good boxer but world class? Not really.’
Quigg has answered Frampton’s accusation that he is less intelligent by saying: ‘My boxing brain as well as my power will defeat him.’
Over to Frampton: ‘Once I land one big shot cleanly on him he will retreat into his shell.
‘If he gets desperate he will leave himself open for me to knock him
REUTERS out. If he keeps retreating I win by decision.’ Quigg’s trainer Joe Gallagher believes the most important advantage secured during the laborious negotiations is home advantage.
He says: ‘We’ve got him over here. The atmosphere will be overwhelming.’
Frampton claims more tickets have been sold to Ulstermen and women, including 5,000 of the Arena’s 20,000 capacity by his father alone. The probability is an evenly divided and cacophonous crowd.
So who wins this mouth-watering collision between Quigg, 27, the WBA super-bantamweight champion, and Frampton, 29, the IBF king of that division?
Victory for either of these young men — who it is a delight to know — will be popular beyond their own followers.
Neither of them will have found it easy getting down to the superbantam limit of 8st 10lb at the weigh-in. Quigg says: ‘I will be the bigger man on the night.’
But the amount he can bulk up will be restricted this morning by a return to the scales when neither must be more than 10lb heavier than at the weigh-in.
If Quigg is to prevail I suspect he will need to inflict a stoppage in the first half of the fight. If not, the odds will increase in favour of Frampton. With the lesson of El Paso well and truly learned, I expect Frampton to endure by unanimous decision.