Irish boxing legend Carl Frampton is backing Michael Conlan to win on Saturday night but says his choice of opponent is risky.
Conlan returns to Belfast to fight at The SSE Arena, against Colombian puncher Miguel Marriaga, five months on from his dramatic loss to Leigh Wood.
The ending saw Conlan knocked out of the ring in the final round after a dramatic WBA featherweight title fight.
Marriaga may not have a big win on his record but has shared the ring with Nicholas Walters, Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko. In the his 30 wins, 26 have ended inside the distance.
Writing in his column for the Belfast Telegraph Frampton is backing his countryman to win and credits him for what he describes as a risky fight.
“Michael Conlan could have taken a much less risky fight for his return to the ring, but to his credit he is jumping in with Miguel Marriaga who is a major threat despite being at the veteran stage of his career.”
“Once I heard who the opponent was going to be, I thought it was a very brave fight to take.”
“Marriaga is a puncher, a good fighter who fought at world level before, so this just shows what Mick is all about as he is willing to take a fight like this.”
Frampton, like others, would not have blamed Conlan for taking something far more routine and straightforward after the defeat to Wood.
“This is a dangerous fight for him and, really, you could have given him a bye-ball for taking an easier touch in his return after such a brutal fight against Wood, but he’s jumping right back into the deep end here and getting back into world title contention.”
A former two-weight world champion Frampton gave Belfast some of its greatest boxing nights but he also suffered defeats in his successful career. Leo Santa Cruz, in a rematch, Josh Warrington and Jamel Herring (in Frampton’s final fight) all bested ‘The Jackal’.
“I know what it’s like to come back from a defeat and the mindset going in is just to win — pure and simple. Two defeats on the bounce could be very tough to take and really make life difficult to come back from.”
“I back him in this one and give him all the credit in the world for taking such a risky fight. People want to see a good fight and he understands that.”