Carl Frampton’s return set for July 29

Former super bantamweight and featherweight titleholder Carl Frampton will be back in action on July 29 in Belfast, as he faces Andres Gutierrez in a WBC featherweight eliminator at SSE Arena in Belfast.

Frampton (23-1, 14 KO) is coming off of the first loss of his pro career, a majority decision defeat against Leo Santa Cruz in January, after beating Santa Cruz in their first fight last year. There was immediate talk of a rubber match, but that was quickly washed away.

Gutierrez (35-1-1, 25 KO) is a 23-year-old Mexican fighter with a pretty empty record. He’s competed at 122 and 130, but not at 126, which is odd enough. A year ago, he lost a decision to Cristian Mijares in what was supposed to be a featherweight fight, but Gutierrez missed weight badly. He’s coming off of a win in October over Wallington Orobio.

On paper, Frampton has the clear edge here. He’s got home field advantage, and more importantly, he’s been in with and beaten much better competition. While this is officially a world title eliminator, it reads more as a tune-up or bounce-back fight.