It has been a hectic week in the super-bantamweight division; WBA champion Scott Quigg(30-0-2, 22KO’s) and his promoter Eddie Hearn have issued an open challenge worth £1,500,000 to IBF champ Carl Frampton(20-0, 14KO’s) for a unification fight in June. While the viewing public await a response from the Irishman’s camp, another man has thrown his name into the circle.
Skysports.com today reported that WBA Super, WBO and The Ring champion Guillermo Rigondeaux(15-0, 10KO’s) will happily fill the void if Frampton is unwilling to accept the offer from Quigg and co. His manager Gary Hyde posted this on Twitter;
“WBA Champion Scott Quigg should challenge WBA Unified champion Guillermo Rigondeaux for the WBA, WBO and WBC silver title on June 20th in Manchester.
This fight can be signed and sealed today. Lets get it on Eddie. Flash one of them cheques to us, and we got a fight. Rigondeaux would fight Quigg and Frampton for 1.5m US dollars.”
There was a hesitant reply from Quigg’s trainer Joe Gallagher when asked during on of Sky’s boxing shows whether he would entertain the idea of a Rigondeaux fight, who insisted “you’re risking your health” getting in with the undefeated Cuban. The fighter himself feels more confident than his taskmaster let on though.
“Rigondeaux is a phenomenal talent, we know that, but I would get in there and be fully confident of winning the fight. He gets avoided because you don’t get huge money for facing him, and if you did get a couple of million then the queue to fight Rigondeaux would be as long as my street. It’s about the glory and I want to be the best. A win over Rigondeaux would mean more to me than all the money in the world.”
Quigg vs. Frampton is a super-fight in the UK and one of the stipulations Eddie Hearn has sewn into his generous offer was that the fight must take place in Manchester. Removing the outstanding support, Frampton enjoys in his hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
It seems for the moment the only thing holding up the deal is some promotional issues that no sane fan cares anything about because the fighters are both as game as they come. But if this fight fails to materialise Quigg would face what is considered a tougher assignment if he chooses to fight Rigo, and he will not be compensated to nearly the same degree as he would be against Frampton.
That fight is a Sky Box Office no-brainer, but Quigg and Rigondeaux would not be. Saying that, Quigg stated above he’s in it for his legacy anyway, and attempting to unify against a fighter of Rigondeaux ilk would be the only thing that could cushion the blow of the Frampton fight falling through.
