Tokyo Olympics 2021

Carl Frampton

Herring-Frampton: Turarov Tests Positive For COVID, McKenna Clash Off

by

Zhankosh Turarov was noticeably absent from Friday’s weigh-In, as will be the case on Saturday when he is unable to make his way to the ring.

The unbeaten junior welterweight from Kazakhstan was forced to drop out of his planned regional title fight with Belfast’s Tyrone McKenna after testing positive for Covid-19. News of the development came hours before the two were due to collide Saturday at Caesars Palace Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“I will not be able to participate in the tournament due to the coronavirus,” Turarov confessed on Saturday through social media. “Upon arrival in Dubai, I started experiencing symptoms of withdrawal, fever and shortness of breath. After the obligatory PCR for the fight on April 1, I tested positive. I was isolated in a hotel room, this was the reason for my absence from the weigh-in. 

“However, despite this, I trained and ran inside the hotel room all these days, I kept in shape even though I was sick, and weighed in isolated conditions. After that I insisted on passing the second test. Unfortunately, it also showed a positive result, and understanding my responsibility to others, and also due to the forced isolation, I was removed from the fight. If not for this, I would’ve destroyed my opponent in three rounds, even in my current condition.”

Turarov (24-0, 17KOs) was not present for Friday’s weigh-in, with on-site handlers suggesting he was struggling to make weight and was permitted extra time “to shed those last few ounces.” It was later announced that he came in right at the 140-pound limit.

McKenna (21-2-1, 6KOs) weighed 139.6 pounds and was understandably let down by the 11th hour cancellation.

“Gutted with the news my fight has been called off,” McKenna offered upon learning the news. “Trained my b-lls off and spent 11 weeks away from my kids. Diet like f-ck to get to 63.5 kg. and spent a fortune in camp. All for nothing.”

McKenna will now remain limited to cheering on his countryman, former two-division titlist Carl Frampton (28-2, 16KOs) in his challenge of WBO junior lightweight titlist Jamel Herring. The scheduled 12-round bout headlines on ESPN+ in the United States (4:00 p.m. ET) and Channel 5 in the United Kingdom (10:00 p.m. BST).

Herring (22-2, 10KOs) attempts the third defense of his crown, while Frampton aims to become the first-ever three-division titlist to come out of Northern Ireland.

As for Turarov and McKenna making their way back to the boxing schedule, D4G Boxing announced that “a new date will be announced for the fight in due course.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

https://summerolympics2020s.com

Frampton Explains Why He Continued Career After Loss To Warrington

by

Carl Frampton says he had made the decision to retire after he lost to Josh Warrington in 2018, before reconsidering after he re-evaluated the performance. 

Frampton lost a unanimous decision to Warrington in Manchester for the IBF featherweight title three days before Christmas in 2018 and felt that was the end of his career. But he changed his mind and bids for a third world title when he challenges Jamel Herring for the WBO super-featherweight title in Dubai on Saturday. 

“I was retired in my head after the Warrington fight without announcing anything,” Frampton said. “I thought I was a retired fighter and that was it. But who would have thought sitting in the changing room after the Josh Warrington fight that I’d be on the verge of fighting for a world title in the third division and Josh Warrington would have lost to an unheard of Mexican? It’s a strange game is boxing,  

“The Warrington fight was a very bad performance by me. But I knew there was a lot more left, once I thought about it rationally. It was an under-par performance rather than me being over the hill. And I’m going to prove that on Saturday.” 

Frampton said he had made the mistake of under-estimating Warrington, even though he was challenging for Warrington’s title. 

“I knew I was better than I had shown,” he said. “I performed very well in sparring for that fight. I just under-estimated him. I under-estimated his punching power, I knew it was going to be a difficult fight but I didn’t think he could hurt me. That thought went out of my head after about 30 seconds.  

“It was a mistake from me and the things I was doing I camp showed me I was still a good fighter. I just got it wrong, It is the high end of sport, some you win some you lose. After I thought about it rationally, I came to the conclusion that I could win another world title.” 

It is ten months since Frampton and Herring were first supposed to have boxed. The pandemic put paid to that date and then there were further delays as first Herring caught COVID-19 and then Frampton suffered a hand injury. 

Frampton had operations on both hands at the end of 2019, although he insists the recent injury was not a problem. 

“The hands are 100 percent,” he said. “I finished sparring last week, I did 12 rounds of pads on Friday, my last hard punching session, my hands are absolutely fine. I had a wee twinge a couple of months ago, it was nothing serious and a bit of rest sorted that out. Since then I have probably done another 35 rounds of sparring since then and they have been fine. 

“I think the delay has helped me because he has had to hold the weight. People talk about my age, but he is two years older than me. Because he is such a big specimen, it’s not done him any favors. He has only got out to Dubai a week before the fight. Where he trains is an 11-hour time difference. I have been out here for three weeks.” 

Both have had experience of boxing behind closed doors and Frampton does not believe that the loss of a home crowd will be telling. 

“I don’t know if it is going to make much of a difference where it is, either in front of a big crowd in Belfast or a handful in Dubai,” he said. “Because it is such a big fight and I am ready for a big fight, atmosphere or not. I will be putting in my best performance.” 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 – covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.

https://summerolympics2020s.com

Frampton: I Haven’t Been Able To Spar, Hit Heavy Bags For a While

by

As BoxingScene.com reported on Tuesday, next Saturday’s WBO super featherweight title fight between Jamel Herring and Carl Frampton has been postponed to a later date due to Frampton suffering a hand injury.

The fight was due to take place in London on Saturday, February 27, with a new date for the fight set to be announced in due course. One of the dates being kicked around is March 27.

Herring and his trainer have their own takes on the matter, but Frampton insists his hand injury is legitimate.

In a statement, Frampton said: “It is just a bit of a twinge to my hand, nothing too serious but I have seen a specialist and his advice was to rest it. So I asked about the possibility of a postponement to the fight and it was agreed to.
 
“It gives me a better chance because I will be going into the fight with two good hands after taking the advice from the specialist. It is nothing major though and there is no fracture.
 
“I did go into a fight with a hand injury against Tyler McCreary and ended up requiring surgery afterwards on both hands. No disrespect to Tyler, but Jamel Herring is a world champion and at a higher level so I need to be at my best. That is what I intend to be.
 
“I haven’t been able to spar or hit the heavy bags for a while. From next week I have been given the go-ahead to start doing that again. I have still been training, doing loads of running, shadow boxing and hitting the paddles as well, which kind of replicates the pads, but I have not hit anything solid for the last two weeks.
 
“It wouldn’t have sat right with me to pull out if people had spent their hard earned money on tickets and travel, but this is completely different and I just want to give myself the best opportunity to win and that is it.
 
“I would like to thank Frank [Warren] and Bob [Arum] for making this possible, plus Jamel as well for his understanding. It is something that just happens in boxing and I am thankful we have been able to postpone it.”

Frampton: If Garcia Beats Pacquiao, He Becomes PPV Star Like Canelo

by

Former two division champion Carl Frampton is very surprised with Ryan Garcia’s desire to step in the ring with Manny Pacquiao.

Last month, the 22-year-old Garcia pulled off the biggest victory of his career when he knocked out 2012 Olympic gold medal winner Luke Campbell in seven rounds.

Pacquiao, 42-years-old, is boxing’s only eight division champion and still widely regarded as a very dangerous fighter.

The Filipino superstar has been out of the ring since July of 2019, when he won a twelve round decision over Keith Thurman to capture the WBA welterweight title.

Should a Pacquiao fight come together, Garcia would be required to move up a division or two, likely to a catch-weight between 140 and 147.

Frampton could certainly see a scenario where Pacquiao ends the fight by knockout.

“This is massive. If this fight gets made, you have to give Ryan Garcia credit, it’s a brave fight to take because Manny Pacquiao, although he’s not the fighter he once was, if Luke Campbell can drop Ryan Garcia, [then] Manny Pacquiao can knock him out. This is a risky fight,” Frampton stated on his Youtube channel.

But, with heavy risk comes a heavy reward.

In 2008, Pacquiao himself was competing as a lightweight and took a big risk when he moved up to the welterweight division to pull off a dominating stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya.

The victory made Pacquiao an instant pay-per-view star.

Frampton could see the same thing happen with Garcia – if he knocked off the veteran with an upset win.

“If Ryan Garcia goes to that level and beats a hero of mine, an absolute superstar in Manny Pacquiao – he puts himself [right up there] with Canelo Alvarez, who is the number one fighter on the planet, in terms of being the boxing superstar… just the top guy in boxing, he is pay-per-view – and Ryan Garcia would be number two. If he beats Manny Pacquiao he becomes number two in pay-per-view,” Frampton said.

“This is an extremely risky fight. If he goes and beats Manny Pacquiao, which he could very well do, it’s amazing. It’s a huge statement if he goes and wins, but there’s that chance he could get chinned and the bubble bursts a bit.”