Recent world title challenger Jonathan Oquendo has predicted a Carl Frampton victory over WBO super-featherweight champion Jamel Herring in Dubai on Saturday.
Puerto Rican Oquendo challenged title-holder Herring last September, losing via a contentious eighth-round disqualification due to the official reason of ‘repeated intentional headbutts’ after an interminably long TV review, though the American was suffering with vision problems and seemed to be looking for a way out with a healthy lead already banked on the scorecards.
Oquendo (31-7, 19 KOs) still hopes for a Herring rematch, but sees plenty to encourage Belfast’s Frampton in his bid to become a three-weight world champion tomorrow.
“Herring is a long-range fighter. He has to box, fight from a distance and when he gets Frampton in front of him, catch him with his combinations. Frampton is the aggressor – that’s what he knows how to do. Herring needs to fight intelligently and avoid going toe-to-toe with Frampton,” Oquendo told ESPN.com.
“[Frampton has to] put pressure on Herring. That’s what I did and that worked for me. I saw Herring tiring when I hit him to the body. Frampton has to keep that pressure up and land his punches to the body. When the referee took a point from me for a knockdown in my fight with Herring, I knew I needed to put pressure on him. Those body shots got him tired.
“Body punches could give Herring a lot of problems. I’m sure Frampton’s corner is working on that, but pressure and body punches are going to be key if Frampton wants to win.
“I see Frampton winning by decision or late knockout. I would like Herring to win because I want a rematch, but he won’t give it to me. So, I’m going with Frampton.”
Main image: Mikey Williams/Top Rank.