Carl Frampton vs. Kirko Martinez on 9/22; Paul McCloskey in action as well

By Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten super bantamweight contender Carl Frampton (14-0, 9 KO’s) will be challenging EBU super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez (26-3, 19 KO’s) on September 22nd at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Also on the card will be WBA super middleweight champion Karoly Balzsay, Brian Magee, Paul McCloskey, Martin Lindsay and Eamonn O’Kane in separate bouts.

The card is still taking shape right now as you can see.

Frampton, 25, is coming off of a harder than expected 12 unanimous decision win over Raul Hirales last May in a fight where Frampton discovered for the first time in his career that he wasn’t the harder puncher. He adjusted well and boxed his way to a mostly dull decision win. It was good to see Frampton realizing his limits and not trying to force what wasn’t there. He might have lost had he went to war with Hirales.

Frampton is going to need to box again if he wants to beat Martinez, because he’s got excellent power, and good skills. He’s an advanced fighter and it’s unclear if Frampton is ready for him or not. If Frampton can win this fight we may see Frampton ceiling out for a while, because he would be out of his class if he challenged the top super bantamweights Abner Mares, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Nonito Donaire right now. His manager likely won’t let Frampton face any of those guys right now because Frampton needs a lot more work before he’s ready to fight any of them, if he ever is.

McClosley, 32, is coming off of a 10th round TKO loss to DeMarcus Corley last May. That was McCloskey’s second loss in his last three fights, but some boxing fans feel that it was McCloskey’s third straight loss, as his 12 round unanimous win over Breidis Prescott was a highly questionable one.