99% – Carl Frampton and Josh Warrington agree to fight

The dotted line has not been signed but for all intents and purposes, Carl Frampton and Josh Warrington have agreed to fight.

The pair are promoted by veteran Frank Warren who declared after Frampton’s win over Luke Jackson at Windsor Park last month that the fight was “on!” but, at the time, this was untrue.

However, following straightforward negotiations, a deal has been reached which will be officially signed, sealed, and announced next week.

BBC Sport NI initially reported the news last night, with the Belfast papers all following suit.

Frampton himself has said hat “it’s close, it’s not over the line yet.”

Until it’s signed, on the dotted line, you never know what’s going to happen in this game.”

Irish-Boxing.com understand that the date and venue for the fight will “99%” be on Saturday December 22nd at the Manchester Arena and it will be shown live on BT Sport pay-per-view.

This was seen as the likeliest destination for the bout but there was a degree of uncertainty due to the ongoing negotiations for Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury and a desire on the part of Warren and BT Sport to keep their Box Office fights as spread out as possible.

Additionally, following an IFL video yesterday, some have worried that Matchroom may be running a card on the same night. However, when asked about having a show on the date, promoter Eddie Hearn said “no – we’ve got a big fight potentially scheduled on that date in the UK” – suggesting perhaps a Matchroom fighter featuring on the card

More will become clear in the coming days, with a Queensberry press conference due to land next week.

In the last week, Frampton has restarted training in Belfast following some time off with his family and commercial and charity work.

‘The Jackal’ stopped Luke Jackson in the ninth round of their WBO interim featherweight title fight at Windsor Park on August 18th and was joined in the ring afterwards by Warrington [27(6)-0].

Frampton [26(15)-1(0)] will now bin his WBO belt to challenge for Warrington’s world title.

The Leeds fighter won the belt back in May at Elland Road with an upset win over former Frampton rival Lee Selby.