Former two-weight world ruler Carl Frampton will return to action in Belfast on April 7, his new promoter Frank Warren has confirmed (Warren replacing Barry McGuigan and Cyclone Promotions). Frampton, last seen having a way tougher time than expected with tough-nut Mexican Horacio Garcia, winning a hard-fought ten round decision, will likely fight at the SSE Arena and one big name who is firmly in the frame as being the dance partner of “The Jackal” is former world ruler and pound-for-pound entrant Nonito Donaire.
No opponent has yet been made official, but Donaire’s name has come up a few times, and Donaire himself recently posted a tweet that shows he may be ready to pack his passport for the trip to Northern Ireland.
“In other news, could anyone tell me what the temperature looks like in Belfast around March? Asking for a friend,” Donaire wrote this week.
A good fight and a way solid match-up, even if Donaire, now aged 35, is no longer quite the awesome P-4-P force he was back in 2007 to 2012 when he was beating the likes of Vic Darchinyan, Raul Martinez, Hernan Marquez, Fernando Montiel and Jorge Arce and was busy collecting belts. At 38-4(24) overall, “The Filipino Flash” has gone 7-2 since losing a wide decision to Guillermo Rigondeaux back in April of 2013.
A stoppage loss to Nicholas Walters and, more recently in November of last year a decision loss to Jessie Magdaleno show how Donaire, while still a force, is not the elite warrior he once was. Again, though, he and Frampton could very easily result in a damn good fight.
How much has the Filipino southpaw got left? In fact, how much has Frampton – who really did struggle in his last fight – got left? Donaire has been stopped just one time, by “Axe-Man” Walters, while Frampton has just one pro defeat with that decision loss to Leo Santa Cruz.
Frampton, at age 30, aims to become a three-time champion, and he and Donaire are both highly ranked by the WBC. Can Frampton become the second man to stop Donaire or will the former multi-weight king roll back the years one more time?
