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Former two division world champion Carl Frampton has hit back at the critics who believe the boxer is turning his back on his home fans, after it was recently stated that his next fight could head to the United States.
Frampton was scheduled to face WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring at Windsor Park in Belfast, on a date in June, but that entire scenario was pushed back due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
There has been some talk of the contest coming off in the fall, potentially in a venue in New York – but that is far from a done deal as New York has by far more cases of COVID-19 than any other state in the U.S.
“To be honest, if the fight with Herring happens before the end of 2020, I’ll be hugely relieved and because of that, I was stunned by the heavy criticism from some quarters at the recent suggestion that the fight could happen in New York. Somehow, there are those who believe that because the fight is now more likely to be in the States that it suits me better because I will get paid more, which is utter nonsense,” Frampton told The Belfast Telegraph.
“First of all, my number one priority was always to fight at Windsor Park and we were getting very close to sealing that deal for June, but then Covid-19 struck the world and the reality is that a stadium fight in Northern Ireland has a limited window of opportunity. I don’t see the fight happening before September, so Windsor would seem to be ruled out.
“Of course, there is the option of the SSE Arena, but if it is between fighting there and aiming to make history as the first Irish three-weight world champion in Madison Square Garden, then I would go for the Big Apple, simply because I have never headlined there before. To be able to say that I had boxed at the Mecca of boxing, Madison Square Garden, would be a real honour.”
Frampton also denied some of the suggestions, that he would earn more money by taking the fight on U.S. soil.
“Secondly, I have to make it crystal clear to those who are saying I want to go to the States because I’ll get a bigger pay-day that it doesn’t matter where I fight in relation to how much I get paid. I have a contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank company, which states what I will receive for such a fight and that doesn’t change. I could be fighting in my own back garden and I’d get paid the same if I was boxing Herring at Wembley or in a tent in Tigers Bay,” Frampton said.