By Scott Gilfoid: IBF Inter-Continental and Commonwealth super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (14-0, 9 KO’s) will be defending his titles on September 22nd against former IBF super bantamweight champion Steve Molitor (34-2, 12 KO’s) at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

This is a big step up in class for the 25-year-old Frampton, because before this fight he was mostly just facing hapless 2nd tier opposition that were no real threat to him.

But now Frampton, #15 IBF, is taking on a real fighter in #12 WBC Molitor and he could find himself getting a boxing lesson from the much more experienced, talented and taller Molitor. Frampton, only 5’5″, will be giving away two inches in height to the 5’7″ Molitor and several inches in reach as well. Frampton isn’t going to be able to out-box Molitor like he did in his last fight against the bigger punching little known prospect Raul Hirales, because Molitor is a much better boxer than Frampton and Hirales.

The only way that Frampton wins this fight, apart from a controversial decision, is to try and KO Molitor the same way that Celestino Caballero did in November 2008. What makes it tough on Frampton to try and duplicate that effort is that he doesn’t have Caballero’s height, reach, boxing ability or power.

Caballero could do it because he was 5’11” and was able to drop bombs on Molitor from the distance without even getting hit. The short tank-like Frampton can’t do that because he’s tall enough and his arms are too short. When Frampton tries to land shots, he’s going to be getting hit and that’s going to mess things up for his home fight in Belfast.

The only positive I can see for Frampton in this fight is that Molitor was recently beaten by Takalani Ndlovu by a 12 round decision last year in March, and he’s now slightly more beatable compared to in the past.