This Saturday, Carl Frampton defends his IBF super bantamweight title against mandatory challenger Chris Avalos at the Odessey Arena in his own Belfast. The fight signifies the return of boxing to terrestrial tv in the United Kingdom as it will be broadcasted by ITV.
Unbeaten Frampton secured the title by beating Kiko Martinez last September. The 28-year old fighter emerged victoriously after twelve hard-fought rounds at the outdoor venue of the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.
But not everything went well during the fight. The Belfast man suffered a hand injury, which resulted in an absence of the ring for more than six months.
“I had to take a bit of a break after injuring my hand in the Kiko fight and having to train over Christmas wasn’t nice,” the champion told reporters at the fight presser last Wednesday.
Frampton sounded extremely confident during the presser and promised an entertaining fight in which he will be victorious by knockout.
“I don’t know if Avalos is any better than Martinez, but I’ll go in there expecting a tough fight. Kiko is a very good fighter, and I dealt with him quite easily.”
“It will be an exciting fight while it lasts, but I am the biggest punching super bantamweight in the world, so it is not going to be rocket science what is going to happen.”
“I am ready for him. I am well prepared, and I am going to knock him out.”
Avalos secured his title shot last year when he stopped Yasutaka Ishimoto in the eight round in Macau. The 25-year old fighter from California holds a record of 25 wins and 2 losses. With both losses being split decisions against Jhonatan Romero and Christopher Martin.
The IBF wasn’t the only route Avalos was able to take. The Californian was also mandatory for the WBO title. Avalos was offered a shot at the WBO champion Guillermo Rigondeaux for the undercard of Pacquiao-Algieri but elected to wait for the IBF champion instead.
While Avalos has only fought once outside of the United States, the challenger isn’t fazed by fighting in front of a hostile crowd.
“I have gone to a fighter’s backyard before and come away victorious and haven’t traveled all this way to lose,” Avalos said.
“People can scream for whoever they want but once we are in the ring it’s just Carl Frampton versus Chris Avalos,” he added.
Both fighters showed a lot of confidence in their words. But in my eyes both scenario’s they are outlining are unlikely. Avalos isn’t going to win. Frampton is far more superior in pretty much every aspect of the sport. But I don’t think Frampton will be able to stop the American. While the champion has decent power, I don’t think it will be a enough to knock Avalos, who is very durable, out. I expect a comfortable unanimous decision victory for the hometown fighter.
As earlier pointed out, the fight will be broadcasted live on ITV. Boxing has been away from the channel for quite some time. The last fight ITV showed was Amir Khan versus Paulie Malignaggi back in 2010.
Khan pulled amazing ratings when he fought on ITV during his early career. His fights scored between four and six millions viewers. It will be interested to see how well Frampton, who is a big star in his hometown of Belfast but not all that well-known in the rest of the United Kingdom, is going to do.
One thing is certain, an exciting performance in front of a big tv audience tomorrow will increase his popularity and strengthened his claim for a unification fight with UK rival Scott Quigg.
