CARL FRAMPTON WAS respectful towards Mexican underdog Andres Gutierrez at today’s final pre-fight press conference in Belfast, but ‘The Jackal’ was also keen to vocally mark his territory ahead of their featherweight showdown at the SSE Odyssey Arena on Saturday night.
Bookmakers are offering generous odds of 10/1 for the visitor to record an upset victory, contrasting sharply with Frampton’s status as 1/25 money-on favourite, yet the two-weight world champion insisted the Mexican is no pushover, cautiously noting that a 15-year-old Gutierrez had recorded five professional victories before he had even made his paid debut back in June 2009.
The 24-year-old Queretaro native (35-1-1) has recorded 25 stoppage victories in 37 pro bouts with his only loss coming against former world super-flyweight champion Cristian Mijares on a majority point decision last year.
However, having previously entered the ring to the sounds of James Brown’s ‘The Boss’ ahead of past fights at the same venue, Frampton enthusiastically insisted that he will make sure Gutierrez knows he is in the Jackal’s Den in what will be the home fighter’s first Belfast bout in nearly two-and-half-years.
“I respect Andres, he’s a top fighter and he’s had more knockout wins that I’ve had fights,” noted Frampton. “I seen a stat that he was 5-0 as a pro before his 16th birthday, so they breed them tough in Mexico and he’s a hard man.
“He’s up for it and if he beats me, it turns him into a huge name and he becomes a big name in boxing,” continued the 30-year-old. “But this is my city. I respect him a lot, but this is my city. I’m the boss and I’m going to win.”
Competing in his first Belfast bout since his successful world title defence against American Chris Avalos in February 2015, Frampton believes a typically vocal, sell-out home crowd will create an atmosphere that Gutierrez has never previously experienced.
“I don’t think the atmosphere can be recreated anywhere else in the world,” said the Belfast boy.
No matter what anybody opponent says, they’ll say that they’ll deal with the atmosphere, but I think it has an effect on them. It certainly has a positive effect on me, but I think it has a negative effect on the opponent.
However, Frampton was also keen to address consistent chatter over his future opponents, with media and fans continually speculating about where victory this weekend will lead.
Saturday’s fight marks the 30-year-old’s return the ring after his first professional loss to Leo Santa Cruz in their WBA world featherweight title fight last January, and the Mexican-American’s shadow has loomed large in the build-up.
Having defeated Santa Cruz last year, negotiations for a rubber-match this summer were unsuccessful, while Frampton had also been linked to a clash against IBF world champion Lee Selby of Wales.
This weekend’s fight against Gutierrez will act as an eliminator for a shot at WBC world champion Gary Russell, but Frampton hit back at questions about his future plans, despite the fact that victory this weekend is likely to see him book a title shot against one of the aforementioned world champions later this year.
“I think it’s a bit disrespectful. We’re at a press conference with Andres Gutierrez, he’s the opponent I want to focus on and no-one else,” he said.
“Andres Gutierrez is the man on my mind at the minute and after the fight we can look at other guys.”
The visitor, who failed to make the 126lb featherweight limit ahead of his loss to Mirajes last year, insisted he is prepared after a tough two-month training camp, despite a relatively late arrival into Belfast earlier this week.
“We’re ready for this fight, it’s been really tough training over the past two months. The first month was in high altitude training and then in Mexico City, which is also high altitude, so it’s been really hard keeping it up.
“But now because of this I’m confident of being able to win this fight, all this training has brought me here,” said Gutierrez, who claimed he has no concerns about making weight ahead of Friday morning’s weigh-in.
“Due to this hard training, it wasn’t hard to lose weight and we’re ready and confident about this fight,” added the Mexican.
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