Eddie Hearn says Frampton – Quigg fight was ‘sh*t’ as he makes exciting Conlan – Wood build up comparisons

Eddie Hearn has that Carl Frampton versus Scott Quigg kind of excitement again.

The Matchroom boss can see the similarities between that famous Irish v English clash and the one fast approaching between Michael Conlan and Leigh Wood.

The Essex promoter admits Conlan’s challenge to the WBA ‘regular’ world champ isn’t quite as big as the unification clash between career-long rivals Frampton and Quigg – and is hopeful the fight itself isn’t as ‘sh*t’ – but he does get reminded of the February 2016 PPV bout when he is around the Conlan’s and Team Wood.

Like Conlan-Wood ‘The Jackal”s” super bantamweight clash with Bury’s Quigg was given its own press tour, – although three press conferences rather than two – and serious tension developed between all the key players.

Eddie Hearn and Barry McGuigan didn’t see eye to eye, Frampton and Quigg had been insulting each other for years, and by the time fight night came around Joe Gallagher and Shane McGuigan were close to a punch up of their own.

Again the rivalry isn’t as tense going into the March 12 Nottingham-hosted world title fight but the recent two-day press tour did inject a bit of bite into the build-up. The antics of Team Conlan, in particular, helped whet fan appetite and gave Eddie Hearn deja vu in the process. ​

“Going back to Quigg-Frampton, the fight was s*** but it was a really great occasion so this is the fight we should see more of as it’s a 50-50.,” Hearn commented when speaking to the Irish media.

“In the build-up, you see what it means to them. You have Jamie (Conlan) and Ben (Davison) over there — it feels like Joe Gallagher and Shane (McGuigan) all over again and that’s what gets people invested in fights.”

Commenting in more general terms, the promoter who works with Katie Taylor, James Tennyson, Tommy McCarthy and Caoimhin Agyarko, suggested domestic fights generate more interest and should be the kind of action fighters chase.

“Everyone wants to go out and fight big names in America, but we’ve missed those big domestic fights,” said the Matchroom supremo.

“A lot of the time, people don’t want to lose in domestic fights. They say, ‘I don’t mind losing to Canelo Alvarez but I don’t want to lose to Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith…’

“We have to get over that and this is a good example of it where Leigh Wood has won a world title, Conlan’s become the mandatory and it’s a natural fight.

“I’ve seen it with ticket sales we are going to do 9,000 (capacity) quite quickly as people are invested and associate these fights with a great atmosphere.”