Carl Frampton to fight on August 15

By Boxing News - 07/09/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton will be back in the ring for a tough stay busy fight on August 15 behind closed doors in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Frampton (27-2, 15 KOs) isn’t saying who his opponent will be for that date other than he’s a tough European fighter.

The 33-year-old Frampton will be fighting for the second time at super featherweight since moving up in weight last November in beating Tyler McCreary 10 round decision. Carl is being positioned to challenge Jamel Herring for his WBO 130-pound title.

Herring, 34, needs to win his next fight this month against Jonathan Oquendo on July 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. He should be able to do that, as Oquendo is a fringe contender, and not viewed as having the same kind of talent as Herring.

Frampton can’t afford to blow it in his tune-up or in his fight against Herring because this arguably the weakest of the champions at 130. If Frampton can’t beat Herring, then he’s pretty much done unless he moves back down to 126.

At 33, Frampton can no longer make weight for the featherweight division without draining himself. We saw that loud in clear in Frampton’s 12 round unanimous decision loss to Josh Warrington in December 2018. Frampton didn’t possess the gas tank to keep up with the younger and stronger Warrington.

Image: Carl Frampton to fight on August 15

Frampton’s next opponent to be confirmed soon

“I don’t have a fight yet, but it’s looking like mid-August,” said Frampton to Boxing Social. “Where, I think at the BT Studios where Warren has his shows. It’s going to be in conjunction with Top Rank, and it’ll be on ESPN in the States.

“Hopefully, in the next couple of days, we’ll get something confirmed. It’s not going to be a domestic guy. It’s going to be a European most likely. The guy they’re looking at, he doesn’t look like a killer.

“You’ll see when it comes out. It’s a tough fight. It’s not an easy fight. By no means is it a tick over. It’s a fight that’s going to be tough, and I’ll need to be on my game to win.

“I’m not thinking for a second that it’s a tick over. I’m running out of options. A lot of people have turned down the fight. I just need to be ready for it. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re all in the same boat. Everyone is fighting behind closed doors,” said Frampton.

It’s anyone’s guess who Frampton will be fighting on August 15, but you can’t expect much. If the guy that he’s facing is a contender, he would have revealed that, don’t you think? The fact that Frampton didn’t say that means that he’s facing a 2nd tier guy in what should be a mismatch.

The way that Frampton has struggled in the last three years to win his fights, it’s hard to see him beating anyone with ease at this point.

Carl rates Oquendo as a good opponent for Herring

“It’s not a bad fight. I think Herring will beat Oquendo,” said Frampton. “It’s a fight that you would expect under these circumstances. I don’t think it’s going to be a life and death for Jamel.

“And I think he’ll win the fight, but Oquendo isn’t a bad fighter. I see people giving stick to Jamel Herring, but under the circumstances, I don’t think it’s a bad fight at all. I would love to get a match in before the end of the year.

“It’s always good to get a fight in before Christmas, and then enjoy Christmas. But if it has to happen early next year, I’m used to that as well. In a lot of fights in my career, I’ve ended up fighting in January or February. Preferably before the end of the year, but if not, it’s not a big deal,” said Frampton.

The 36-year-old Oquendo (31-6, 19 KOs) has been around for a long time in his 16-year pro career, and he’s going to make it tough on Herring. In 2015, Oquendo defeated former world champion, Jhonny Gonzalez, by a 10 round decision.

It would be great if Frampton can slip in a second fight in 2020, as long as they match him against someone with a pulse. Frampton facing a weak opponent won’t nearly be as interesting to see.

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The Jackal leaning towards Ryan Garcia over Luke Campbell

“It’s a good fight, and a very, very interesting fight, isn’t it?” said Frampton on the Luke Campbell vs. Ryan Garcia clash. “Up to this point, Garcia hasn’t really done a lot if you look at the level of his opposition.

Image: Carl Frampton to fight on August 15

“But he’s definitely talented. He’s very good. Campbell is definitely going to be his most difficult fight. What’s surprising to me is Luke Campbell keeps getting shots. Eddie [Hearn] really likes him, I think, and he keeps getting these opportunities.

“Fair play for getting them, but it’s an interesting fight. I feel like this Garcia kid, although there’s a lot of hype about him because of all the social media stuff and the many followers he’s got. And I feel like he’s going to be able to back up the hype. I think it’s a good fight, but I would give the edge to Garcia,” added Frampton.

This is surprising that Frampton is picking lightweight contender Ryan ‘Kingry’ Garcia to defeat Luke Campbell because a lot of fans are going with Luke. It could be the combination of speed, power, and youth that Ryan has that impresses Frampton.

Campbell has a lot of mileage on him now at 32, and he’s coming off of a grueling 12 round decision loss to Vasily Lomachenko. I don’t think that fight is going to help Campbell when he gets in there with a big puncher like Ryan Garcia. If Ryan lands one of his big left hooks on the button, he could take Campbell out of there.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn likely keeps giving Campbell chances is because he’s a 2012 Olympic gold medalist. Hearn seems to be partial to fighters that have won Olympic gold.

Belt situation annoys Frampton

“Boxing annoys me at the moment,” Frampton said. “This belt situation has been laughed at for a number of years now, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. It seems to be getting worse, in fact.

“The situation with drugs as well. People from other sports are looking in at boxing and thinking, ‘It’s not good over there.’ It’s not good for the sport overall. But the belt situation. We all know who #1 is, and that’s the thing. I do.

“Lomachenko is #1, but to have all these other belts. You’ve got interim champions calling themselves world champions. They’re not world champions. I beat Luke Jackson for an interim title.

“I didn’t call myself a world champion after that. It needs to be sorted. But I know and boxing fans know that Lomachenko is number one,” said Frampton.

Having a world title has almost lost any meaning at all, thanks to the sanctioning bodies polluting each weight class with belts. There are too many titles and too many champions in each division.

When boxing fans have no clue who the real champion is in each weight division, it tells you that there’s a big problem.  Try to imagine six Super Bowl winners. That’s what it’s like in boxing with all the different titles.