On Saturday, Carl Frampton will make his America debut as he defends his IBF super bantamweight title. The 12,000 capacity Don Haskins Centre in El Paso, Texas, will be the venue as the Belfast man looks to impress on a Premier Boxing Champions card that will be shown coast-to-coast on U.S. terrestrial television with CBS – as well as being shown on ITV/UTV on this side of the Atlantic.

The opposition for Frampton’s American introduction will be the unheralded Mexican prospect, Alejandro González Jr. who will be looking to follow in his father’s footsteps and pull off a shock world title win. Alejandro González Sr. made headlines in 1995 when he upset American Kevin Kelley to win the WBC featherweight title via tenth round stoppage.

With the bout fast approaching, Irish-boxing.com is here to give you the the most comprehensive preview available ahead of what will, hopefully, be a fight that sends ‘The Jackal’ into stateside super-stardom.

Alejandro González – History
Still only 22, González Jr. has fought eight more times than Frampton en-route to compiling a 25(15)-1(0)-2 record. Like many Mexicans, ‘La Cobríta’ entered the paid game young and had his professional debut at flyweight in 2010 – just a week after his seventeenth birthday. His first outing ended in a draw against fellow debutant, Oswaldo Novoa. Novoa would go down and win the WBC minnimumweight title last year, while the young González Jr. would grow into a super bantamweight.

In 2013, González Jr. upset the odds by defeating Hanzel Martínez for the lightly regarded WBC Interim Youth Silver bantamweight title. Then-unbeaten, Martínez is the brother-in-law of Antonio Margarito, and was hotly tipped to become a world champion. However González Jr. emphatically stopped him in the second round.

2013 also saw González Jr. go one better than Leo Santa Cruz by knocking down Jose Cayetano en-route to a points victory. Some may remember Cayetano as the man who lost to a laboured Santa Cruz on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao in May.

Last year, González Jr. lost for the first, and only, time in his career so far. A former IBF super flyweight world champion, Juan Alberto Rosas, was the man to take his 0 – winning via a ninth round technical decision after a clash of heads.

Since this disappointment, the Mexican has won three fights on the spin to re-establish himself in the IBF rankings, and has been hand-picked by Haymon to challenge for Frampton’s belt.

Alejandro González – Style
While there is little video footage available of González Jr., we do have some musing on the Mexican prospect. Standing at 5’7” with a reach of 67”, the rangey 21 year old holds a 2 inch height and 5″ inch reach advantage over the smaller Frampton.

Much like Frampton’s previous opponent, Chris Avalos, González is large at the weight but doesn’t always fight long – instead often trading on the inside – although not to the same extent as the downright reckless Avalos. Unlike the loud Californian though, ‘La Cobríta’ will surely try adjust his regular gameplan, and aim to keep ‘The Jackal’ at bay with his decent boxing skills.

Again, like Avalos, González Jr. has a somewhat leaky defence and is susceptible to counters – which must be music to the ears of the hard-hitting Frampton. Despite such sloppiness, Frampton would be ill-advised to be too reckless against the young man who does have some power, as well as a vicious left hook – as shown in his violent knockout of Hanzel Martínez.

Prediction
The bookies can see nothing but a Frampton win, with the Belfast man being quoted as short as 1/80, while underdog González can be had at a massive 14/1.

Indeed it is probably well within the ability of Frampton to steamroll González inside a round. However, this is a showcase fight for ‘The Jackal’ and he will want to give a polished performance and exhibit his full range of punches. In addition, González’s will most likely be looking to keep it long and cagey early on .

Therefore I think Frampton will give a controlled performance and break his overmatched opponent down – winning by stoppage between rounds four and six (best priced 11/4 with Sky Bet).

Frampton-González Jr. can be seen live and free on ITV1/UTV/UTV Ireland with coverage starting at 21:45. Undercard bouts will be shown on ITV4 from 21:00.