By Scott Gilfoid: Carl Frampton (24-1, 14 KOs) is taking his fight this Saturday against Nonito Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs) very seriously, as a lot is at stake in terms of fights against WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez and a fight against the winner of the Lee Selby vs. Josh Warrington contest. The World Boxing Organization interim featherweight title will be on the line on Saturday for the Frampton-Donaire fight.
The reason why the title will be up for grabs is because Valdez suffered a broken jaw against Scott Quigg last month, and he’s going to be out of action for a long, long time recovering from the injury.
Frampton vs. Donaire will be taking place The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The fight will be televised on BIT Sport/Box Nation this Saturday night.
Frampton, 31, hasn’t been looking good lately in his last three fights, and he’s starting to show signs of age and the wear and tear of his grueling contests in the last three years. None of Frampton’s fights have been easy in the last three years, and he seems to be getting worse as a fighter. Frampton’s last fight against Horacio Garcia was one of his worst performances of his career against a very beatable guy. It should have been an easy fight for Frampton. Instead, he was knocked down in the 7th and forced to get on his bike to win. Frampton losing this fight to Donaire is quite possible.
Donaire, 35, is a fighter that Frampton showed no interest whatsoever in facing four years ago. It’s only now after Donaire has gotten a little older and has fights against Jessie Magdaleno and Nicholas Walters that he’s suddenly show interest in fighting him. This could be a mistake for Frampton. Even though Donaire has moved up five divisions since starting his boxing career at 112, he’s still a big puncher. Donaire’s power has carried up with him since he began his career at flyweight. If Frampton takes a lot of Donaire’s big punches on Saturday, he could be counting stars on his back in front of his Irish fans.
“For me it’s make or break, because if I win this fight I’m going to be fighting at Windsor Park in the summer,” Frampton said to the telegraph.co.uk in talking about him facing the winner of the Selby vs. Warrington fight if he defeats Donaire.
If Frampton was so worried about the Donaire fight, then he shouldn’t have agreed to it. Frampton didn’t have to take this fight. He could have fought another bottom dweller like Horacio Garcia, and he would have likely been fine. Frampton picked Donaire out because he felt he was beatable, and now he’s harping about it being a make or break fight for him. Donaire is ranked #3 WBC and #8 WBO. Donaire was recently beaten soundly by Jessie Magdaleno by a 12 round unanimous decision in November 2016. Donaire fought only once in 2017 in beating Ruben Garcia Hernandez by a 10 round unanimous decision last September in a fight that was a lot closer than it appeared.
I need to win this, I know how important it is. But I know how dangerous Nonito is, and in that sense it is a make or break for me,” Frampton said.
Frampton shouldn’t be looking past his fight with Donaire, because he could come apart if the Filipino star has enough left in his tank to give him a glimpse of the fighter that he used to be in prime. Frampton is a good fighter, but he’s starting to show signs of wear. Donaire has the punching power and speed to give Frampton all he could handle. Donaire was one of the best fighters in boxing six years ago in 2012. He ws voted as the fighter of the year.
Unfortunately for Donaire, he lost to Guillermo Rigondeaux by a 12 round unanimous decision in April 2013, and that defeat seemed to take a lot of the steam out of his career. Donaire would win two fights against Vic Darchinyan and Simpiwe Vetyeka before getting beaten by Nicholas Walters by a 6th round knockout in October 2014. Donaire then won four fights in a row. The winning streak ended for Donaire when he fought Magdaleno in November 2016.
Frampton can probably beat the winner of the Selby vs. Warrington fight, but I don’t think he’ll have any luck against WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez unless his recent war with Scott Quigg softened him up.
Frampton is no longer with Barry and Shane McGuigan. Frampton is now trained by Jamie Moore. It’s up to Moore to try and do the best he can with the well-worn Frampton. Moore isn’t taking the helm at the zenith of Frampton’s career. He’s getting Frampton with him on the downside and not looking like the same guy he once was.
Frampton lost to Leo Santa Cruz in January of last year. In their previous fight in July 2016, Frampton beat Santa Cruz by a controversial 12 round majority decision in New York. A lot of boxing fans thought Frampton lost that fight. He took a lot of punishment in both Santa Cruz fights, as well as in his last match against Horacio Garcia, and in his bouts with Scott Quigg and Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.
Quigg, 29, lost to Oscar Valdez by a 12 round unanimous decision on March 10 in Carson, California. Quigg got beat up in that fight, but so did Valdez. The way Valdez fought against Quigg, he would be a tough obstacle for Frampton if he gets past Donaire and faces him next. It’s not surprising that Frampton is talking of wanting to fight the winner of the Selby vs. Warrington fight next. Frampton acknowledges that facing the winner of that contest will attract less attention worldwide than if he were to face Valdez, but he has little choice. Valdez suffered a jaw injury against Quigg, and he’s expected to be out of the ring for the remainder of 2018. Selby will be fighting Warrington next month on May 19 in Leeds.
If Frampton loses to Donaire on Saturday, he can blame it on him looking past him towards fights against Valdez and the Selby-Warrington winner.