When and where will Carl Frampton and Mick Conlan fight next?

Boxing on this side of the Atlantic returned following lockdown on Friday night in the BT Sport studios in London.

Queensberry put on the first televised UK show since March and there are a further 11 behind-closed-doors cards scheduled in Britain over the next few weeks.

None of these cards however feature either of Belfast’s biggest stars, Carl Frampton and Mick Conlan.

The world title hopefuls are both in camp in England at the current moment and confirmation of their next outings should be confirmed shortly.

There have been some indications regarding what’s upcoming for the Top Rank pair – although the information has been somewhat conflicting.

On Thursday, following an interview with Top Rank supremo Bob Arum, Dan Rafael reported that the two would be in action in Ireland next month.

Writing for BoxingScene, Rafael revealed that “Top Rank, working with MTK Global, will also put on a card on Aug. 15 with junior lightweight and former two-division titlist Carl Frampton and featherweight contender Michael Conlan in separate bouts of a doubleheader likely to take place in their hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland.”

However, it would now seem that a card in Belfast is not on the agenda.

Previously, a mooted all-Irish show run by MTK Global fell by the wayside and this superstars bill also looks likely to take place across the Irish Sea.

In an interview with Boxing Social, Frampton confirmed that he is preparing for a fight in the Saturday August 15th timeframe but that it will be England.

The 33-year-old, who is building towards a challenge of WBO super featherweight champ Jamel Herring, said “when? Early to mid August. Where? I think the BT studios is where [Frank, promoter] Warren is having his shows. It’s going to be in conjunction with Top Rank and on ESPN in the States. That’s pretty much all I know at the minute.”

Regarding opponent, Arum said no opponent had been locked in but, by the time he was interviewed, Frampton was able to outline how “it’s not a domestic guy, it’s going to be a European, most likely.”

“I can’t say too much but the guy that they’re looking at, although his record doesn’t look like a killer… you’ll see when it comes out.”

“It’s a tough fight, it’s not an easy fight, it’s by no means a tick over. It’s a fight that’s going to be tough and I’ll need to be on my game to win.”

“I can’t for a second look at it as tick over, so I’ve not. That’s why I’ve been away for so long and been training so hard.”

“This guy kind of has just been put on us the last few days, we were running out of options, really – a lot of people have turned the fight down. It’s a difficult enough fight.”

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Frampton hopes to move from his upcoming fight straight into a title fight with Herring while WBO featherweight #1 Conlan is similar – albeit with a further interim outing. A St Patrick’s Day World Championship bout in New York has been suggested for the 28-year-old in a title scene that is currently in flux.

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None of the upcoming 11 cards in England are scheduled for August 15th which would add further weight to this suggested date and clarity is expected in the coming days.