– Niall Kelly reports from the Odyssey Arena, Belfast
CARL FRAMPTON IMMEDIATELY set his sights on a super-bantamweight showdown with Scott Quigg after defending his world title in Belfast last night.
Frampton ruthlessly dispatched mandatory challenger Chris Avalos inside five rounds in a sold-out Odyssey Arena.
It clears the way for a superfight later this year against Quigg, who holds the regular WBA belt.
The Bury puncher flew in to watch from ringside and joined Frampton in the ring after his win.
The Jackal landed the first jab when he insisted: “People need to understand that this is Scott Quigg fighting for my world title. It’s not a unification fight.”
Frampton’s manager and mentor Barry McGuigan warned that greed would be the only obstacle to stop the two undefeated stars from meeting.
After making a very successful debut on ITV, they are adamant that the fight should be broadcast live into millions of homes on free-to-air terrestrial TV.
The champion is willing to travel to make it happen and a stadium fight at Stamford Bridge or Loftus Road is an option, as are indoor shows at London’s O2 Arena or Manchester’s MEN Arena.
If done correctly it could be this generation’s equivalent of the Chris Eubank-Nigel Benn clashes that pulled in over 16 million TV viewers in the 1990s, McGuigan said.
“We want the fight. We really want the fight,” he said.
“Eddie Hearn keeps pushing this pay-per-view thing but let’s be honest, it’s a much better fight on terrestrial TV. Let’s do a Chris Eubank-Nigel Benn fight.
It’s a great fight on terrestrial TV. It will make these kids superstars, and we can do it if they can be a little bit less greedy. I know [Frampton] will. Will Quigg be?
“Eddie’s the only one who has been talking about it because he thinks of the numbers all the time. Well let’s think about the game.
“Let’s think about the possibility of it being free-to-air for millions and millions of people to watch and enjoy because it will be a great fight… until Carl hits him,” he joked. “That’s cheeky of me.”
Fights against the other ‘true’ world champions Leo Santa Cruz and Guillermo Rigondeaux are also on the horizon but politics aside, Frampton is adamant that he wants Quigg next.
“I think now is the perfect moment to do it. It has to happen now, it should happen now.
“I always said from the start of my career I wanted to win a British title, and he never let me fight for a British title. I’m obviously well past that now.
“The fight’s been brewing. Luckily I haven’t been beaten and he’s had a couple of draws. It’s time to happen now, it has to happen now.”
He added: “People need to understand that this is Scott Quigg fighting for my world title.
It’s not a unification fight. I don’t believe it is. It’s him fighting for my IBF title.
Frampton rocked Avalos and the American was backing up when referee Howard Foster stepped in to wave off the fight after 1:33 of the fifth round.
“I’ve always said that he’s the hardest puncher at super-bantamweight in the world,” McGuigan beamed on the night of his 54th birthday. “There isn’t a harder puncher.
“Everybody is screaming about Guillermo Rigondeaux but look at what happened the last time he fought a Japanese guy [Hisashi Amagasa], a big stringy kid who couldn’t really hit, and he was dropped twice and badly hurt.
When Frampton hits him, he’s going to knock him out — but we’ll hit him when I want him to hit him.
“It’s not an exciting fight at the minute, it’s not something that attracts us. Quigg does, Santa Cruz does.
“This guy is the best super-bantamweight in the world and we’re going to prove it.”
