Scott Quigg ups stakes in verbal sparring with Carl Frampton
Wednesday 17 February 2016 19:23, UK
Scott Quigg has upped the stakes in his war of words with Carl Frampton ahead of their British super-fight later this month.
Quigg will put his WBA super bantamweight title on the line against IBF rival Frampton when the pair clash at Manchester Arena on February 27.
Belfast boxer Frampton told the Englishman that he had never been knocked out in his career when the pair met on The Gloves Are Off on Sunday night.
However, Bury's Quigg, whose record boasts 31 wins and two draws, claims his fellow undefeated rival is not telling the truth.
"I call him Pinocchio," Quigg told Sky Sports News HQ. "He lied and it shocked me. I thought he would have just avoided the question.
"My sources told me he was knocked out on his back. I've seen fighters in the Wild Card get knocked down, knocked out and then go on to win world titles.
"I've had sparring... before Anthony Crolla's last fight, he battered me around the ring for about six rounds and he gave me a black eye.
"People have bad spars but it was the fact that they used to call me 'chinny', you know when I got caught off balance against Jamie Arthur... (that) I couldn't take a punch.
"When they have mud to throw, they throw it, they throw it around. But now the shoe is on the other foot, they don't like it. Again, it's taking that control away from them.
"It doesn't mean anything. I know he can be hurt - any fighter can be hurt. You can get him by the right shot, you can be hurt and that's why you've got to be switched on all the time.
"But he knows he's been knocked out, and that's a fact."
Frampton, who has rattled off 21 straight wins since turning professional in 2009, will have his right to reply when he hosts the media in London on Tuesday and is sure to deny Quigg's claim.
Ahead of their face-to-face in the TV studio on Sunday, the 28-year-old questioned Quigg's intelligence in and out of the ring, claiming a lack of a 'boxing brain' will be his rival's downfall in their unification clash.
"I'm not the brightest when it comes to school, I'll admit that," said Quigg. "Before I left school, I was in bottom sets so I probably would have failed all my GCSEs anyway.
"But when it comes to being in the ring - the training I've done, the way I've been schooled and the way I've been taught and coached since day one - that experience is where I've got my ring intelligence."
The pair shook hands at the end of The Gloves Are Off and share a mutual respect despite trading insults, but Quigg believes he has seen a chink in Frampton's armour.
He added: "I do know there are weaknesses there, I know these mental demons he has but I'm prepared for the best Carl Frampton there has ever been - but the best Scott Quigg beats the best Carl Frampton."
