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Boxing

29th Nov 2017

Carl Frampton responds to four-weight world champion’s fight offer

This would get Belfast buzzing

Ben Kiely

Carl Frampton

The buzz is back for Carl Frampton.

That hard-fought unanimous decision win over Horacio Garcia earlier this month was an important victory for Carl Frampton.

He needed to get back in the win column after losing his WBA super featherweight title to Leo Santa Cruz. He needed to make it up to his hometown crowd after his original return bout was scrapped in bizarre circumstances. He needed to lift the mood inside the SSE Arena after Jamie Conlan was TKO’d in his first shot at a world title.

Fortunately, ‘the Jackal’ proved his point and got the whole stadium hopping in the process. With that out of the way, we can now look to even bigger fights that are on the cards for the former two-weight world champion.

One prizefight that appears to be up for grabs is against former four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire.

“The Filipino Flash” has been linked with a bout against Frampton for years, but he recently announced on Twitter that both teams are ‘talking’ about finally making it happen. Although the 35-year-old appears to be on the decline, he beat Ruben Garcia Hernandez the WBC Silver featherweight title in his last outing.

Having held the IBF flyweight title, the unified WBC and WBO bantamweight titles, the IBF super bantamweight, the WBO super bantamweight title and the WBA featherweight title, there’s no doubt that Donaire’s presence would make this a spectacle.

Frampton’s response was interesting. Although it was non-committal, it does look like he would be open to that fight.

With a huge fight at Windsor Park rumoured to be on the cards for 2018, Frampton knows that a marquee opponent would make the event even more special. Donaire isn’t a champion, but he is a big-name with a fan-friendly style.

Perhaps he is the right man for the job.