Warrington in Windsor – IBF champ to challenge Carl Frampton on Saturday?
Barring the unimaginable, Carl Frampton [25(14)-1(0)] will come face-to-face with his NEXT opponent on Saturday night.
The Belfast featherweight takes on unheralded Aussie Luke Jackson at Windsor Park football stadium in a fight he is widely expected to dominate and win handily.
Should this be the case, Frampton will then be confronted by the man that looks almost certain to be his next opponent.
IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington [27(6)-0] will be in Belfast for the second successive Frampton fight, providing punditry for BT Sport in an open attempt to build a match-up between the promotional stablemates at the end of the year.
Common promoter Frank Warren has made his intentions crystal clear – he wants Warrington to make the first defence of his red belt versus Frampton in neutral Manchester.
The veteran fight boss envisions this to be the first of a trilogy of fights, something the Leo Santa Cruz-chasing Frampton would disagree with – but, regardless of this, the next step is obvious.
About an hour earlier on Saturday night, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will go head-to-head to the ring following Fury’s second comeback fight versus Francesco Pianeta in a moment that will no doubt go viral.
Warren anticipates Warrington and Frampton’s coming together to be somewhat more relaxed but no less important or a sign of fights to come.
The Queensberry boss described how “Josh will be at Windsor Park sharing his insight with BT Sport viewers and I wouldn’t bet against the pair sharing a few words with each other after the final bell.”
Leeds pressure fighter Warrington won the title in May with an upset victory over Welsh holder and former Frampton rival Lee Selby.
This was an unexpected result for many but would pale in comparison to a Luke Jackson win on Saturday which would be the biggest shock in Irish boxing history.
Still, no one can be overlooked in the fight game and Warren claims he is not getting too far ahead of himself.
He noted how “I don’t want to tempt fate because Carl has got a job to do against Luke Jackson, who is a hungry, unbeaten fighter with world title ambitions of his own.”
“I don’t for one minute believe that Carl would consider taking any opponent lightly because he is too much of a top professional, but he will need to be on his guard because upsets do happen as we were reminded last December when James DeGale came unstuck on his homecoming against Caleb Truax.”
“You just cannot afford an off night in this game.”
“However, it is no secret that we would like to match Carl and Josh together because that really would be a fight for the fans and one you would be confident of bringing about a thriller.”
