Frampton to defend his Commonwealth title on Jan 28

By Jonny Stapleton

Carl Frampton will make the first defence of his super bantamweight Commonwealth title in York Hall on January 28.

The Belfast fighter , who claimed the prestigious title with victory over Mark Quon in the Odyssey Arena last September, knows the where and the when, but has yet to discover the who.

‘The Jackal’ is eager to get a big scalp, but is struggling to tempt a big name to challenger to face him.

A division, which looked loaded with potentially exciting bouts as late as last month, has downgraded from a hot to lukewarm weight category recently. Jason Booth really isn’t an option after his one sided loss to Scott Quigg , Rendall Munroe is exploring world rather than domestic options and Limerick’s ‘Big Bang’ Casey would only trade leather with Frampton if the European title was up for grabs.

British Champion Booth and European Champion Kiko Martinez are massive opponents and foe’s the undefeated 24  year old will face in the future, but not on Matchroom’s January 28 show.

“The plan is to fight on January 28 and put the Commonwealth title on the line in London. We are looking at a few options but an opponent has yet to be confirmed,” Frampton’s mentor Barry McGuigan told Mirror Sport yesterday.

“We would have liked fights with Booth or Munroe, but they don’t look like options at the moment. Booth seems at the end of the road and Munroe turned down the chance to fight us of the European title in September. We are finding it a little difficult to source opponents that want to get in the ring with Carl, but we will get one and Carl will have another test.”

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the challenger that will bring to the dozen fight mark former World champion McGuigan is sure of how he wants to 2012 to go for his charge.

The Clones Cyclone predicts ’Brick Fists’ will add titles three and four to his mantle piece by claiming the British and European straps.
“The plan next year is to keep Carl busy and active. By the end of the boxing season we hope to have fought for the British title and the European title. Quigg and Munroe are both big fights and we are looking at them down the line. The have the belts and we want to fight them.”

As revealed in Mirror Sport this week Frampton could make his American debut on St Patrick’s day on the undercard of Matthew Macklin and Sergio Martinez’s middleweight world title fight.

Manager McGuigan claims the former Irish amateur champion is in talks re the American fight night, but stressed the Irish Prospect of the Tear for 2010 has options.

“There has been suggestions and talks about Madison Square Garden on St Patrick’s day. However there are other options for us too, which is a good thing.”