By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton has reportedly turned down an offer of £1.5 million from WBA World super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg’s promoter to face Quigg in the ring.
Frampton sees the money as too little, and he says the fight is worth £12 million. In the meantime, WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux’s manager Gary Hyde says that Rigondeaux is willing to face Quigg for the £1.5 million if he’s up to the fight.
It’s so sad that Frampton and Quigg won’t face each other so they can’t at least find out who the No.2 or No.3 fighter is in the 122 pound division. Rigondeaux is obviously see as the No.1 guy. What’s ever sadder is that neither Frampton nor Quigg will get inside the ring with Rigondeaux so they can try and prove themselves against the Cuban talent.
Quigg said via Fight News “So £1.5m is not enough nor is 60-40 to the winner of the ‘millions’ you say from OUR broadcaster? Do you even want this fight?”
I had a feeling that the Quigg vs. Frampton fight wouldn’t get made and it looks like I’m right. Frampton doesn’t see Quigg as the real WBA champion due to Rigondeaux holding the WBA Super World super bantamweight title and Quigg just the regular WBA title. In other words, Rigondeaux is the top WBA champ and Quigg the lower champ.
It’s the fault of the WBA by them creating two champions at 122 instead of just having one champion. It puts Quigg into a situation where some boxing fans don’t rate him as a real belt holder. But by the same token, you can make an argument that Frampton is little more than a paper title holder as well due to Rigondeaux being seen as the real super bantamweight champ. He’s seen as the best fighter in the 122 pound division by many boxing fans, which makes Frampton more of a mere strap holder rather than the top guy in the division.
Rigondeaux’s manager Hyde said “This fight can be signed and sealed today. Let’s get it on, Eddie [Hearn]. Flash one of them cheques to us and we got a fight. Rigo would fight Quigg AND Frampton for $1.5m US dollars.”
I think Hyde and Rigondeaux will be waiting for a long, long time for Hearn to “flash one of them checks” to them to make the Rigondeaux vs. Quigg fight happen. I don’t see there being any interest from Quigg or Hearn’s side for a fight against Rigondeaux. That’s not to say that they won’t want to fight him one of these days, but I don’t see that happening until Rigondeaux is old and gray and totally shot as a fighter. Under those conditions, I see Hearn and Quigg pushing hard for the Rigondeaux fight. But then again, Frampton’s manger Barry McGuigan has shown no interest in putting Frampton in with Rigondeaux either.
McGuigan is on record saying that he doesn’t see Rigondeaux as bringing anything to the table for a fight. McGuigan seems to see it as a business thing, and that unfortunately puts Frampton in a situation where he can’t move up to the No.1 spot in the 122 pound division. If his manager isn’t going to put Frampton in with Rigondeaux, then that leaves the Cuban fighter as the No.1 fighter at 122 by default. If you’re not willing to compete against the best guy then nothing changes. Rigondeaux stays the top guy while Quigg and Frampton bicker among themselves about which of them are the No.2 fighter at 122.
“Remember I’m a real world champ, you’re not. I sell tickets and you sell chips. Now wise up,” Frampton said about Quigg via Skysports.com.
Quigg said “Why turn down 60/40 to the winner? By the way they’re not just any chips, they’re the champs chips.”
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