By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn, the promoter for EBU super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (16-0, 11 KO’s) is already calling the young 5’5” Frampton a superstar in the 122 pound division despite the fact that he struggled in beating Kiko Martinez last night in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Frampton constantly ran and clinched, and ducked below the waist to avoid getting hit. It was constant running and when he wasn’t running, he was clinching.
When Hearn was interviewed after the fight, he was like he was like a broken record, saying “He’s the superstar of the super bantamweight division.”
Superstar, eh? Frampton struggles to beat a 26-year-old Kiko Martinez by running all around the ring for 9 painful to watch rounds, and Hearn is calling him a superstar? That wasn’t entertaining, was it? Did you honestly like Frampton’s running? That wasn’t a fun fight to watch unless you like runners and clinchers, because that’s what Frampton was doing in bundles. I don’t see runners and clinchers as superstar material myself, but maybe they have different standards in the UK?
I thought Ricky Hatton was supposed to be the style that most UK boxing fans liked, so it was odd that Hearn was working up a froth at the mouth talking about Frampton being a superstar after his 9th round TKO win over Martinez. Other than the knockout punch, which looked like a lucky surprise shot, there wasn’t much to be excited about from Frampton’s performance the entire fight. To me, Frampton just looks like a runner/clincher and not entertaining one at that.
Even the punch he knocked Martinez out with didn’t look like a big shot. It was just a case of Martinez walking into a short shot that he didn’t see coming. It wasn’t a really hard punch because Frampton didn’t show much in the way of power in the fight.
How Hearn could see Frampton as a superstar is unclear. There’s no doubt that Frampton has a huge following in Northern Ireland, but to me a superstar is someone that is an entertaining fighter with amazing talent, and who is a star outside of one geographical area.
Frampton is not a star in the United States. If you walk around New York all day long ask everyone you see who Carl Frampton is, I think you’d be lucky if you can find more than a tiny handful of people that have heard of him. Let’s be clear, Frampton is NOT a superstar. He may be popular in the UK, at least in Northern Ireland, but no way is the guy a superstar.
Comments are closed.