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After a seemingly endless cavalcade of misfortunes, WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring and former two-division champion Carl Frampton will finally, finally lock horns next month.
MTK Global officially announced the fight this afternoon.
The BBBofC recently gave the all-clear for events to resume in February after canceling all events for this month.
Both Herring (22-2, 10 KO) and Frampton (28-2, 16 KO) have been “disturbed the slumber of an ancient and malevolent deity”-levels of unlucky these past couple years. It took Herring three tries to share the ring with Jonathan Oquendo, and when he finally did, he won via DQ due to an illegal headbutt.
Frampton’s 2020 wasn’t as awful as his 2019, which saw him get his hand squashed by a falling hotel pillar and then fracture both hands in a win over Tyler McCreary, but it was still pretty bad. His only fight of the year pitted him against Darren Traynor, who stepped in for the hapless Vahram Vardanyan, and Frampton didn’t particularly impress en route to a seventh-round finish.
“I’m really excited that the fight is finally happening, more importantly it’ll be an honor to share the ring with a true warrior, and class act such as Carl Frampton,” Herring said. “It may be the biggest fight of my career to date, but I’ll be more than ready for the task ahead.
“There’s a lot on the line, and I know he’s aiming to make history, but he’ll have to wait another day, because I plan on returning home with my title in hand. I’ve been training very hard for this fight, and went back to what got me to my world title from sparring the likes of Terence Crawford and other top talent across the nation. I can’t wait to put on a great show!”
“I’m delighted to finally get a date nailed down for this fight that has now been talked about for over a yea,” Frampton added. “I have the utmost respect for Jamel as a fighter and as a man, but there is nobody stopping me from becoming the island of Ireland’s only ever three-weight world champ, one of Britain’s only ever three-weight world champions, and potentially putting one foot in the Hall of Fame.”