On July 18th in Manchester, WBA (reg) super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg tops the bill when he defends his title against Spain’s Kiko Martinez, in what is sure to be a fight that will draw comparisons to that of IBF 122 lb champ Carl Frampton – and his own performances against the Spanish fighter.
The Northern Irishman took Martinez’s world title last September, having previously stopped him in the 9th to win the EBU belt the year before – and with negotiations between Quigg and Frampton for a UK super fight breaking down recently – all eyes will be on how the Bury man performs in anticipation of a possible future showdown with his Tiger’s Bay rival.
Ahead of his fight, Quigg spoke to iFLtv to discuss his preparations and expectations, as well as to insist his Irish rival – and Frampton’s upcoming American debut – are far from his thoughts as both fighters seemingly “go their own way” for now.
He said;
“We’ve still got a couple of spars left, a couple of decent sprint sessions but we are now tapering down how many rounds we’re doing and the intensity level of the sprints we’re doing. I’m looking forward to the fight now”
“I’m expecting the best Kiko Martinez that I’ve seen. I’m expecting the one where he went in explosive against Jhonatan Romero (W/TKO 6). That was one of his best performances. And then when he went over to Japan and fought Hasegawa (w/TKO 7).”
“I’m expecting that sort of ferocious Martinez to come out and try and put it on and take it me out early – which I’m one million percent prepared for – and I know what I’ve got to do, and that’s go out, do the job and take him apart.”
Quigg seemingly cannot avoid the issue of Frampton and just why the fight between them didn’t happen following Eddie Hearn’s recent and very public £1.5 million offer and a 60/40 purse bid to the winner.
IBF champion Frampton responded to these points in a column in the “Sunday Life” magazine recently, and it became apparent quickly that financial minutiae and the sanctioning bodies not recognising Quigg as full WBA champ for unification purposes, were instrumental in the Northern Irishman not accepting the offer.
Quigg, it seems, has moved on. Speaking of the Frampton situation, he said;
“It is what it is. I’m not really interested in what they’re doing. I have got a massive fight against Martinez which I’ve got to go and take care of, and that’s what I’m focused on.”
“This is the toughest fight of my career, because this is the fight that’s in front of me.”
“I’m very confident that I’ll go out there and put the best performance of my career in.”
Twitter @Undilutedpoison
