By Scott Gilfoid: Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton will be taking a very dangerous fight against ex-4 division world champion Nonito Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs) on April 21 at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The 30-year-old Frampton (24-1, 14 KOs) is starting to show signs of wear and tear from the grueling effects of 5 consecutive punishing fights.
With each fight, Frampton looks a little worse, and now he’s facing one of the biggest punchers in the 126 lb. division in 35-year-old Donaire. You can ignore Donaire’s age. He’s still incredibly powerful, lightning fast, and more than a match for Frampton. This is a fight that we probably wouldn’t have seen Frampton take if it had been offered to him 5 to 6 years ago when Donaire was a little younger. Donaire is a very young 35. He’s more like someone in their late 20s rather than mid-30s. Donaire hasn’t aged like normal fighters do.
Frampton was calling out Donaire in 2012 or 2013. Heck, Frampton wasn’t even calling Donaire out in 2014. But with Donaire having lost a couple of fights in the last 4 years to Jessie Magdaleno and Nicholas Walters, Frampton suddenly is interested in fighting the Filipino knockout artist. It could be a HUGE mistake on Frampton’s part in taking this fight. Let’s be honest. Frampton would have a nightmarish time trying to deal with Magdaleno and the version of Walters that Donaire faced. Those would both be extremely difficult fights for Frampton, and I’m not sure that he would win them.
Donaire is not vulnerable as some boxing fans think he is. He’s quick as a cat, and still one of the best fighters in boxing. Donaire is like a Gennady Golovkin type of fighter in the featherweight division. 126 is not Donaire’s best weight, but his power still carries up to this weight class just fine. The only thing that Donaire has problems with at featherweight is taking the heavier shots from the guys that fight at this weight. Donaire’s power is excellent for the featherweight division.
”I don’t think there’s been a bigger name than Nonito Donaire and he’s coming to fight a local guy in his hometown,” said Frampton to the dailymail.co.uk. ”Both of us are in the same situation, a slip-up here and one of us might never fight for a world title again. There’s a lot on the line for both guys.”
It’s not as bad as Frampton makes it out. The loser of the Frampton vs. Donaire fight will be just fine. Frampton can still get a shot at IBF featherweight strap holder after he beats a couple of 2nd tier fighters. Frampton would still be a popular fighter in the UK, so a fight against Selby would still be a doable fight. Frampton could face WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez as well. Top Rank would still be interested in matching Valdez against Frampton under those circumstances.
It would be trickier for Donaire. He might need to go back down to super bantamweight and win a few fights in that weight class before he’d be given a title shot. Donaire is popular enough to get a title shot at 122 fairly quickly. A guy that probably won’t get a title shot fast is Guillermo Rigondeaux. He was stripped of his WBA super bantamweight title after losing to WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko on December 9. The World Boxing Association has removed Rigondeaux entirely from their top 15, and none of the other sanctioning bodies has him ranked. Rigondeaux is in a much tougher position than Donaire will be if he loses to Frampton.
”He’s been at the top of four divisions, but he was in the same weight division as me for quite a while and he’s someone I’ve always kept an eye on,” said Frampton in talking about Donaire. ”He’s someone I admire as well and I think he’s a great fighter, but I think this is the perfect fight to get me ready for a world title fight in the summer,” said Frampton.
It’s nice that Frampton admires Donaire. It’s not as if Frampton will ever accomplish what former 4 division world champion Donaire has accomplished during his career. I mean, Frampton has won world titles in 2 weight classes, but the chances of him moving up and winning world titles at super featherweight and lightweight are extremely unlikely. It’s not realistic to assume that Frampton will ever become a 4 division world champion like Donaire. That’s not a knock on Frampton. He’s still a good basic fighter. He’s just not blinding fast and incredibly powerful like Donaire. He’s also nowhere near as fast with his footwork as Donaire was earlier in his career. At his best, Donaire was able to move his feet quickly to shift into different punching angles. Once Donaire had his opponents out of position, he would nail them with a tremendous shot that they often weren’t expecting. Frampton doesn’t move like that. His physique is too tank-like for him to move quickly to shift angles when directly in front of his opponents. When Frampton does a little bit too much, he gets dropped, like we saw in his fights with Horacio Garcia and Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.
”It’s a real cracking fight, a good fight for him,” said Frampton’s promoter Frank Warren to the dalymail.co.uk.
Frampton’s objective in taking on Donaire is to get a good win under his belt against a guy with a name, and then use the victory to get a confidence booster going into a world title shot against IBF champion Lee Selby. Donaire moves a lot like Selby, but he’s much more heavy-handed. Selby is a non-puncher. His whole game is to box his opponents for 12 rounds. Selby hasn’t ever fought anyone talented though, which is why he’s the IBF champion now. Had Selby fought Gary Russell Jr., Donaire, Joseph Diaz Jr., Oscar Valdez or Scott Quigg, he probably would have lost. For all intents and purposes, Selby is what some boxing fans view as a paper champion. Valdez and Russell Jr. are the better fighters. Frampton doesn’t appear to be heading in the direction of either of those guys unfortunately.
Donaire has previously captured world titles at 112, 118, 122 and 126. Donaire could have won a world title at 115, but he skipped that division for some reason. It’s too bad Donaire didn’t go after a strap at super flyweight, as he would have likely easily won a belt in that division as well.
Frampton is coming into the Donaire fight off the back of a very hard fight against 27-year-old fringe contender Horacio Garcia last year on November 18 at The SSE Arena in Belfast.
Frampton picked up a 10 round unanimous decision, but the fight was closer than the scores that were turned in by the 3 judges that worked that bout, and Frampton was getting out-punched the entire fight. Garcia was bigger, stronger and he looked a lot younger. It was smart for Frampton’s management to make the fight a 10-rounder, as another 2 rounds with Garcia might have seen him getting knocked out.
Frampton looked tired and old by the time the fight ended. Just watching that fight, it was painfully obvious that Frampton doesn’t have a have a lot of time left in his career as a top performer. He’s clearly not the best fighter in the 126 lb. division. Of course, we knew that already from watching Frampton lose to Leo Santa Cruz last year in January 2017. Frampton fought Santa Cruz twice, and he arguably lost both fights in this writer’s view. Frampton would have lost to Quigg if not for an injury that he sustained in the fight. Quigg was the better fighter in the last half of the contest with him pushing through the pain of a jaw injury.
”I plan to put on a spectacular show for my fans, his fans and boxing fans in general. When I walk out of the ring victorious, it will have all been worth it,” said Donaire.
If Frampton wins the fight, he’ll likely be facing the winner of the Lee Selby vs. Josh Warrington match-up. It’s almost a given that Selby will win that fight.