Chris Avalos skips Rigondeaux fight, looking for Carl Frampton

By Boxing News - 09/26/2014 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: In a sign of how well respected WBA/WBO Guillermo Rigondeaux is, #1 IBF, #1 WBO Chris Avalos (24-2, 18 KOs) opted not to face him as his mandatory challenger, and instead go for the softer target in IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton.

While many boxing fans in the UK are worked up about the talent that Frampton has after his recent win over Kiko Martinez, it’s pretty clear that Frampton is not in the same class or anywhere near the same class as Rigondeaux. Avalos, as good as he is, likely knows full well that a fight against Rigondeaux is a certain loss, but a fight against Frampton is one that is very winnable.

Frampton is still licking his wounds from his recent battle against Kiko Martinez, so there’s zero chance that he’ll be able to return to the ring to face a talent like Avalos this year. The fight will need to take place in 2015, and yeah, it’ll likely take place in Belfast, where Frampton fights a lot of his bouts.

Avalos has the kind of power and aggressiveness to defeat Frampton by knockout and take the judges and the crowd totally out of the fight. Avalos is going to need to be thinking KO if he’s going to be going into Belfast because the last thing he needs is to go over there and get robbed of a decision.

“Chris and his team have decided to pursue the IBF champion, Carl Frampton,” said Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “Both champions, Frampton and Rigondeaux, present difficult challenges in the ring, but there is no comparison as to who presents the better financial opportunity. Not even close. Once Frampton heals from his injury, we look forward to challenging him for his title.”

What Moretti isn’t saying is that Frampton is the much more beatable opponent for Avalos than putting him in with Rigondeaux and watching the Cuban star give Avalos a certain beating. With Rigondeaux beating Avalos like a school boy, it would have given Rigondeaux a chance to get the last laugh in handily beating another Top Rank fighter.



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