Carl Frampton vs Scott Quigg: Belfast fighter mocks Joe Gallagher
Tuesday 17 November 2015 08:12, UK
Carl Frampton has ridiculed Scott Quigg's trainer Joe Gallagher and laughed off predictions of an early victory for the Bury fighter.
Belfast's IBF super-bantamweight champion will fight his UK rival in a unification bout in Manchester on February 27, when Quigg's WBA belt will also be on the line.
Gallagher and Quigg exuded confidence at a press conference to promote the fight, but Frampton believes they only agreed to it because he was knocked down twice by Alejandro Gonzalez Jr during his latest victory in Texas in July.
"I have been chasing this fight for a long time," said Frampton. "They are now saying they have been chasing it for a long time. They haven't been.
"The only reason this fight is happening is because of my last performance, which was not very good, I will admit that myself.
"But they have got a bit of confidence from that and that is why it is happening."
There has been tension between the rival camps for a while, but Frampton is a little mystified by it all.
"Obviously there has been history, and there has been back-and-forth for a long time now," he said.
"There has always been a bit of animosity. I don't really mind Scott Quigg at all, I respect him as a fighter.
"Some of the things that Joe Gallagher have said in the past have annoyed me."
Reminded of Gallagher's prediction that he would suffer an early defeat, Frampton's sarcasm was evident.
"What can I say about that?" he said. "He is obviously the messiah of boxing so, if he says it is going to happen, then lump on Scott Quigg."
Frampton is managed by boxing great Barry McGuigan, who has no doubt his fighter will emerge triumphant.
"I know that my man is going to win this fight," said McGuigan. "And he is going to win it spectacularly."
However, Quigg is determined that what he sees as the defining fight of his career will end in victory.
"This is massive," he said. "Everything I have done, so far in my career, means nothing really.
"Everything is built to this. This is the biggest fight, potentially, that I could ever be involved in.
"I could fight Leo Santa Cruz or Guillermo Rigondeaux. It still would not be as big as this, because of the needle, and because everyone wanted to see it.
"I can't wait, this is big time boxing."
