Frampton weighed in at 129.9 pounds on Friday, slightly heavier than herring
Carl Frampton believes “the stars will come together” as he finishes preparations for his WBO featherweight world title bout with Jamel Herring.
Belfast’s Frampton weighed a little heavier than their opponent at 129.9 pounds on Friday, while defending champions Herring tipped the scales at 129.4 pounds.
A win would mean the 34-year-old Frampton will become the first Irish fighter to win world titles in three divisions, while defeat will end his career.
“I would join an elite of fighters so I am determined to see that this happens,” he said.
“I respect Jamel Herring and his time and in order to win this fight I have to make it perfect on the night. I am absolutely confident.”
The English fighters Bob Fitzsimmons and Duke McKenzie and the Scot Ricky Burns are the only British boxers to have won world belts in three different divisions.
Herring “always kept hunger”
Ex-US Marine Herring has held the WBO belt since 2019 after defeating Masayuki Ito.
It’s five inches taller than Frampton at 5’10 “, with a 72” reach compared to the Northern Irishman’s 65 “arm span.
The current champion, however, insists that he “cannot depend on just one size advantage”.
“A clever fighter takes it one round at a time” – Hering
The 35-year-old continued, “I just go in there ready to go to work and raise my hand because I’ve been training hard.
“I kept the same hunger throughout the camp, even with the shifts.”
Both fighters have two losses on their records. Of Frampton’s 28 wins, 16 were in the round of 16.
Herring has won 22 of his 24 fights, 10 by knockout.
The third time is a spell
The fight was originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020 but has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was then set for London on Feb.27 but was again delayed with a new location sought after Frampton sustained a hand injury in training.
The former bantamweight and featherweight champion broke hands for the first time in the summer of 2019.
He had surgery on both hands after a unanimous win over Tyler McCreary in November. This was his first fight since losing to Josh Warrington in the 2018 IBF featherweight title class.
Frampton’s last fight was at York Hall in August 2020, where he stopped substitute opponent Darren Traynor in the seventh round.
Hering’s last title defense was against Jonathan Oquendo in September 2020, which he won after Oquendo was disqualified for repeated deliberate headbuttings.
