Frampton won’t be Dunne in
August 15 Jonny Stapleton
Kiko Martinez 86 second 2007 demolition of Bernard Dunne will have no bearings on Carl Frampton’s European title tilt with the Spanish puncher, according to Barry McGuigan.
La Sensación silenced the infamous Dunne support by dispatching the Irish star, who bounced back to become world champion, within a round of their shocking continental clash, but McGuigan claims he won’t stop a packed Odyssey Arena celebrating European success on September 10.
The Irish boxing legend is adamant Frampton can succeed were Dunne failed and stressed the fight will certainly last longer than 86 seconds.
“Carl against Kiko is a different fight. I have a lot of respect for Bernard Dunne, but Carl is a totally different prospect. Bernard didn’t punch like Carl. Carl has different assets. I am not saying anything bad about Bernard Dunne it is just a different set of circumstances. We have the height respect for Kiko and we think its going to be a hard long fight, but Carl has the tools to beat him,” McGuigan explained.
The former world champion admits Martinez is World class and revealed Frampton is taking a risk taking on the fighter who claimed the title for the third time when stopping Jason Booth this year.
The Cyclone claims Martinez will try to seek and destroy but is confident no matter how hard he looks the Brian Peters promoted star won’t find success against his star.
“Kiko Martinez is a seek and destroy merchant. He hits hard and there is no bullshit about him. He doesn’t know how to do anything else than come at you. He will come to fight. There is a risk attached to this fight, some will say we maybe took it too soon. We have a lot of respect for Kiko he is a world class operator. However, Frampton will have too much for Kiko Martinez, he has too many assets as a fighter and I believe he will win this fight.”
Frampton reiterated McGuigan’s suggestions that the Dunne Martinez result and the manner in which it was achieved has little relevance to his bout with the Spaniard.
The Belfast fighter is confident he won’t make the same Martinez mistakes as the fighter who won the belt he will challenge for against Esham Pickering in 2006.
“We all seen what happened in the Bernard Dunne in his fight with Martinez. It only lasted a round. So there is not much information I could get if I got in touch with Bernard. Bernard went on and done well. He picked himself up and won a world title. I don’t think we could ask him much about Kiko. He will tell you himself he got the tactics wrong. He went out and tried to have a tear up. We know what we are doing and won’t suffer the same fate.”
