Carl Frampton is determined to secure big fights in making a statement and reminding the world of his formidable punching power, when he defends his ‘interim’ WBO featherweight title this weekend at Windsor Park.
For now, however, his crosshairs are very much zeroed in on Hobart’s Luke Jackson, the undefeated Tasmanian challenger; someone who is supremely confident that he has the ability to silence Frampton’s legions of vociferous fans who will no doubt be assembling in their tens of thousands to cheer their man on this Saturday night.
After a turbulent 2017 where he lost his undefeated record and WBA ‘Super’ World featherweight title – in addition to his promoter, manager and trainer – Frampton impressively rebounded in April with a unanimous decision win over former pound-for-pound star and multiple-weight World champion Nonito Donaire.
In front of a capacity crowd at Windsor Park, the home of the Northern Ireland national football team, ‘The Jackal’ will be realising a childhood dream when he headlines one of the country’s biggest ever cards also featuring Tyson Fury and fellow Belfast-native Paddy Barnes.
However, he is also at pains to stress that he won’t allow himself to become overwhelmed by the moment, and will remain fully focused on the task at hand under the discerning eye of new trainer Jamie Moore.
By all accounts their partnership has been positively fruitful due to their innate understanding they seemingly share, coupled with Moore’s innovative training methods, something with Frampton believes is making him faster and sharper than ever as he approaches his physical prime.As a result, Frampton is assured that he will simply have far too much for Jackson to be able to survive the twelve round distance, let alone compete.
Meanwhile, Jackson represented Australia multiple times as an amateur, and correspondingly believes he has the intelligence and skills to be able to frustrate and outclass Frampton on the night.
Like fellow Australian Jeff Horn, he is an energetic fighter with a penchant for banging the body, and undoubtedly be hooing to replicate the Hornet’s heroic feats of last June, when prohibitive favourite Manny Pacquiao was sensationally dethroned over twelve rounds in Brisbane.
Understandably, Frampton’s combination punching and experience make pundits reasonably confident that the obscure Jackson will not be able to spring a surprise, derailing Frampton’s aspirations in the process.
Nevertheless, if Jackson possesses the same tenacity and determination that his compatriots have evidenced on numerous occasions at World level, he may prove to be a very stubborn customer indeed: and although Carl Frampton might have established an unassailable lead on the scorecards, the stoppage win that he so richly deserves could be something that even after three years remains elusive.
Article by: Navi Singh
Follow Navi on Twitter at: @hombre__obscuro