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Carl Frampton calls Tevin Farmer v Jono Carroll world title fight


Carl Frampton is a fully signed up member of the Jono Carroll fan club but ‘The Jackal’ admits that he sees ‘King Kong’ losing this weekend.

Carroll [16(3)-0-1] challenges IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer on Friday night at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia and is a big underdog in the battle of the southpaws.

Frampton doesn’t think that the 6/1 outsider will be able to dethrone the slick champ but is hoping that he is wrong.

The Belfast featherweight has become a big fan of Carroll, with the Dubliner having featured prominently on the Frampton-Garcia undercard back in November 2017.

Frampton then highlighted Carroll’s performance in the rematch with Declan Geraghty the following June.

However, the two-weight world champion – who is open to a move up to the super feather class – believes that Farmer [28(6)-4(2)-1] will be a step too far for Carroll

Writing in his weekly column for the Sunday Life, Frampton stated that “it would be some win if Jono could pull it off and I’d love to see it but Farmer should retain his title.”

That said, Frampton believes that Farmer, who defeated James Tennyson back in October, is not invincible and is someone Carroll can enjoy success against.

The 32-year-old detailed how “Jono is a guy I like because he’s a real throwback fighter who loves to have a toe-to-toe battle and doesn’t shirk a challenge.”

“He’s the underdog going into the fight because Farmer is a slick operator and is on a real roll, though in his last fight he seemed to be cruising and then late on struggled a bit. I can see Jono taking some encouragement from that and really jumping on Farmer from the start.”

Frampton [26(15)-2(0)] is currently ticking over following his IBF featherweight title defeat to Josh Warrington.

The Tiger’s Bay boxer will return to the ring in the late summer and wants big fights.

Oscar Valdez and Leo Santa Cruz, the respective WBO and WBA champions at featherweight, have been the two most-mentioned names but a move either up or down in weight has been suggested.

Before Tennyson fought Farmer it was suggested that a Belfast win could enable a Frampton fight and the same does apply here, with a Carroll win potentially paving the way for the first ever all-Irish world title fight.

Indeed, considering the pair are managerial stablemates it is a fight which would be even easier to make – although their affiliation to Matchroom Promotions may be an issue.

However, the massive ‘but’ is Carroll needing to defy the odds once again.

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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