By Terence Dooley
Carl “The Jackal” Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) and Mexico’s Horacio Garcia (33-3-1, 24 early) both scaled at 9st 1lb (127) at the weigh-in for their non-title affair at Belfast’s SSE Arena earlier today.
Frampton missed the featherweight limit for his ill-fated fight against Andres Gutierrez in the summer—a bout that was spiked when the visitor fell and injured himself getting into the shower—but it was all smiles today as he reached the pre-arranged weight limit for his first outing under new trainer Jamie Moore.
The 30-year-old is expected to secure a win to close out the year yet will also hope that he can become the first man to stop the 27-year-old, who has vowed to go home with a big name scalp on his record.
“It’s just been stress-free in the build-up,” said ‘The Jackal’. “I’ve been taking it easy in training and I felt comfortable throughout the week. I could’ve easily made the championship weight, but with it being a non-title fight, both camps were happy to allow the extra couple of pounds if needed.
“I know from my training and working with Jamie [Moore, trainer] that I can easily make featherweight and I just need to get the win now before I get a title shot against one of the big names in 2018. People are noticing that I’m in a good mood – lads are saying they’ve never seen me like this the week before a fight and I feel full of life, so all’s good.”
Fellow Belfast boy Jamie Conlan (19-0, 11 KOs) also hit the scales ahead of his challenge to the Philippine’s’ IBF World Super flyweight holder Jerwin Ancajas (27-1-1, 18 early) and once again the weights were exactly the same, with both fighters scaling 8st 3lbs (115).
South Africa’s Zolani Tete (25-3, 20 KOs) makes the first defence of the WBO world bantamweight title when he Siboniso Gonya (11-1, 5 early) in an all-South African derby. The 29-year-old weighed 8st 5.5lbs (117.5) to Gonya’s 8st 4lbs (116).
The only drama came when Nicaragua’s Eliecer Quezada (21-6-3, 8 stoppages) hit 8st 4lbs, four pounds over the flyweight limit, ahead of a WBO Inter-Continental fight against Belfast’s Paddy Barnes (4-0, no KOs). The 26-year-old will be weighed again in two hours and if he misses the weight the title will only be on the line for Barnes
2023-10-19 23:40:29
