Carl Frampton vs Scott Quigg: Britain's two previous domestic world title unification fights
Benn-Eubank II and Haye-Maccarinelli revisited
Saturday 27 February 2016 10:11, UK
Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg will do battle in just the third world championship unification fight between British boxers. Sky Sports has spoken to some of the men who truly understand what is at stake.
Carl Frampton pits his IBF super-bantamweight belt against WBA 'Super' title-holder Scott Quigg this weekend on Sky Sports Box Office, following in the footsteps of world title collisions between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, and David Haye against Enzo Maccarinelli.
What's really on the line when two domestic fighters put up their world championships?
Nigel Benn vs Chris Eubank II
Often, great champions can only elevate themselves to legendary status if they are lucky enough to find a dancing partner who matches them step for step. Benn or Eubank may not have become revered in the same way had their career trajectories not collided with devastating results and created the type of legacy that Frampton and Quigg will aspire to. Eubank won his first fight against bitter rival Benn in 1990 in Birmingham, taking his world title with a ninth-round stoppage in an all-time classic before both fighters carried world championships into a rematch.
"The public didn't know what Nigel had in reserve," remembered his manager Ambrose Mendy, who insisted 'The Dark Destroyer' would stop at nothing to hear the final bell in the second Eubank fight. "They knew he was gung-ho and front-foot and Eubank was a prancer and a preener."
Eubank wore his shorts right up by his chest. I don't know how they deducted a point. I had that in the bank but a draw's better than a loss.
Similarly, the true depth of Frampton and Quigg's arsenal of weapons hasn't yet been revealed and, like the brilliant super-middleweights of the 1990s, they might not know themselves until they draw it out of each other. Eubank demonstrated in the rematch that he had the toughness to last 12 gruelling rounds, not something previously associated with his flashy, cocksure attitude. Should Frampton-Quigg develop into a similar battle of wills, Mendy questions which man will fold.
He said: "Eubank proved to everybody he had the stomach for a fight - I don't know how Frampton is going to react having twice been floored. I watched Quigg from afar and he has done everything dutifully, the hard way. He is the blue-collar guy proving that all work and no play does not make Jack a dull boy. When it comes to gutting it out, maybe he has Eubank's guts."
The visceral rivalry between Benn and Eubank had reached boiling point by their second fight in 1993 but Barry Hearn, who promoted the fight, thinks the nastiness prevented the sort of elite-level technique he expects during Frampton-Quigg.
"The bad blood in Benn-Eubank was slightly worse," Hearn said. "Frampton and Quigg, being smaller fighters, appreciate each other's ability more whereas it was personal between Eubank and Benn who didn't like each other. I'm not saying Frampton and Quigg like each other, but the level of animosity isn't the same. When you're fighting and you get emotional, you don't box as well because everything you've learned goes out the window. The boxing suffers. Frampton and Quigg aren't trying to hurt each other in a personal way."
Mendy added: "There was genuine dislike and, more importantly, genuine distrust. The antipathy was incredible. We were polar opposites - our two promotions had members of staff who didn't like each other!"
The popularity of the first Benn-Eubank fight allowed the rematch to be staged at Manchester's Old Trafford and now, 23 years later, the super-bantamweight unifier will head to the same city. The bout itself was more tentative than the wild, first occasion and despite a thrilling final round, was scored evenly. Benn was punished for repeated low blows which, to this day, he queries. He told Sky Sports: "Eubank wore his shorts right up by his chest. I don't know how they deducted a point. I had that in the bank but a draw's better than a loss."
The unique reception from a passionate crowd, which Frampton and Quigg hope to tap into, lives long in the memory and befits a fight that won't be forgotten by anybody associated with it.
"I remember the atmosphere as if it were yesterday," Hearn said. "There were 43,000 people there and the ring walks took ages to get into the middle of the pitch. Eubank was buzzing, Benn was snarling." It remains to be seen whether Frampton and Quigg will snarl at each other but, at first glance, their bout could just be the first chapter of a rivalry like Benn and Eubank's.
David Haye vs Enzo Maccarinelli
The ace up Frampton's sleeve as he prepares to unify world titles against Quigg could be the presence in his training camp of David Haye, the last man to achieve the feat against a domestic opponent. Both men are part of trainer Shane McGuigan's new-look stable and, if Haye's assessment is correct that these rare occasions provide a unique atmosphere, Frampton could have an edge over Quigg.
Haye, in his pre-heavyweight years, unified the world cruiserweight championship by blitzing Enzo Maccarinelli in 2008. But the Bermondsey fighter, who entered as WBC and WBA champion, insists his meeting with the WBO ruler divided fans in the same way as Frampton-Quigg.
I had gone to Paris to beat Jean-Marc Mormeck, the undisputed champion. I went there to fight the main man in the division and knocked him out in seven rounds.
"I had gone to Paris to beat Jean-Marc Mormeck, the undisputed champion," Haye told Sky Sports. "I went there to fight the main man in the division and knocked him out in seven rounds. I came back over and Maccarinelli had four defences of the WBO title.
"People really knew him, he was riding high, and everyone said it was a 50-50 fight. He had more experience at world level than I did at that point."
Haye had Maccarinelli on the canvas by the second round and although the Welshman bravely rose to his feet, the referee quickly jumped in as another flurry of punches arrived like a whirlwind. The acquisition of Maccarinelli's WBO title and the conquering of the division signalled the move to heavyweight. He knocked out Monte Barrett in his next fight, then won the WBA heavyweight title from Nikolai Valuev but eventually suffered a points defeat in another unification fight against Wladimir Klitschko.
No pair of British world champions have fought since Haye's KO win over Maccarinelli eight years ago. As the baton passes to Frampton and Quigg, Haye finds himself sharing the same heavy bags and treadmills as the Northern Irishman.
"Maccarinelli was the fight that captivated the masses for the first time in my career," Haye said. "When you put two domestic world champions together it somehow sparks something special. I believe Frampton and Quigg have that same electricity."
Carl Frampton vs Scott Quigg, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office on February 27, is available to order via Sky remote and online.
