Froch talks Frampton-Quigg Sky Box Office fight

By Boxing News - 01/08/2016 - Comments

framptonBy Scott Gilfoid: Well, if boxing fans want to see the February 27th fight between IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (21-0, 14 KOs) and WBA 122lb champ Scott Quigg (31-0-2, 23 KOs), they’re going to need to dig deep and pay to see it on Sky Box Office, as the fight will now be pay-per-view despite there not being anything listed as far as the undercard goes for their fight at the Manchester, Arena in Manchester, UK. The tickets are already sold out for the fight.

The recently retired fighter Carl Froch will be working as a commentator for Sky for the fight, and he sees the Frampton-Quigg fight as a 50-50 affair and he’s sitting on the fence as far as who will win the contest.

“It is a genuine 50-50 fight,” Froch said to skysports.com. “People might have had Carl Frampton down as the favorite in the past, but I am not so sure now.”

Froch is obviously basing his observation on the fact that Frampton struggled in his last fight in getting dropped twice by the young 22-year-old Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. in the 1st round of their fight last year in July in a Premier Boxing Champions broadcast from El Paso, Texas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHbBfk9cKkE

While Frampton got up off the deck twice in the 1st round to come back and win the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, he was stunned late in the 9th by a hard right hand from Gonzalez Jr. The fight was definitely a wakeup call for Frampton, as it showed that he’s as good as many boxing fans thought he was. I mean, if a young and inexperienced fighter like Gonzalez Jr. could do that to Frampton then just imagine what a talent like Guillermo Rigondeaux or a puncher like Nonito Donaire would do to him.

Fortunately for Frampton, he doesn’t need to worry about fighting those guys. He only needs to worry about Quigg, who is arguably made to order for his fighting style. Froch is also likely basing his opinion on how well Quigg did against Kiko Martinez compared to Frampton. Quigg recently stopped Martinez in the 2nd round last July. Frampton previously stopped Martinez in the 9th round and beat him by a 12 round decision in their two fights.

“Scott Quigg’s performances against Kiko Martinez, compared to both of Frampton’s, have changed a lot of people’s minds,” Froch said. “Before that, I would have gone with Frampton, expecting him to just have a little bit too much.”

I hate to disagree with Froch, but I have to here. Frampton is clearly a better fighter than Quigg, and he’ll show it on the night. This will be easy work for Frampton, 28, who I see as levels above Quigg, 27, in terms of talent. Frampton might have struggled against the tough Mexican warrior Gonzalez Jr., but that was against a very good fighter that had a considerable height and reach advantage over Frampton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U4zH84Wo8E

The 5’7” Gonzalez towered over the little 5’5” Frampton, and enjoyed a 5” inch reach advantage over him. Try fighting someone with a five-inch reach advantage and you’ll find out how difficult it is, especially when they’re throwing looping shots that you have never seen before while fighting in Europe. Frampton was not prepared for Gonzalez Jr’s height, reach and fighting style. It was obviously an alien style for Frampton, as he’s been fighting mostly European fighters during his pro career, and he’s not had to face a lot of Mexican fighters like Gonzalez Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iRonh3W7KE

I don’t agree with the Frampton vs. Quigg fight being televised on Sky Box Office. I mean, it’s a good little domestic dustup, but I think it should be on regular Sky. It’s asking a lot from boxing fans to have to pay to see this fight after having to pay to see Commonwealth heavyweight Anthony Joshua fight Dillian Whyte for the vacant British heavyweight title just last December on Sky Box Office.

Heck, that wasn’t even for a world title or even the EBU strap. That was just for the British strap, and fans were already asked to pay to see it on PPV. The co-feature for that card was terrible with middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. fighting a slow, over-matched fringe contender in Gary O’Sullivan. I thought that card should have been on regular Sky.

Now fans are being asked to pay to see Frampton-Quigg on Sky Box Office. I think it’s too soon for a PPV fight, and frankly I don’t see it as a PPV worthy fight. To be sure, if Matchroom Sport loads up the undercard with fighters like Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, Kevin Mitchell, Lee Selby and Tony Bellew, then maybe it would be worth it to be a PPV card in my view, but not now with just the Frampton-Quigg fight.



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