IT might seem like it is cursed, but Carl Frampton insists he can’t leave anything to chance after a hand injury saw his world title challenge against Jamel Herring delayed once more.
‘The Jackal’ originally hoped to face the American in Belfast last summer until the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to that, before talks turned to the autumn and then December 2020.
That was ruled out when WBO super-featherweight champion Herring sustained a scratched cornea in a tough fight with Jonathan Oquendo in September, and then it looked likely to happen in January until February 27 was eventually announced.
This latest postponement is a major frustration for both sides as they await a new date for the fight, which was to take place in London. March 27 had originally been mooted, though this may be too soon, but Frampton will be hoping it can take place sooner rather than later.
"It's just a bit of a twinge to my hand, nothing too serious but I have seen a specialist and his advice was to rest it," said the Tigers Bay man, who is bidding to become a three-weight world champion having previous held super-bantamweight and featherweight straps.
"So I asked about the possibility of a postponement to the fight and it was agreed to. It gives me a better chance because I will be going into the fight with two good hands after taking advice from the specialist. It's nothing major though and there is no fracture."
The 33-year-old previously underwent hand surgery on both hands after his victory over Tyler McCreary in December 2019.
"I did go into a fight with a hand injury against Tyler McCreary and ended up requiring surgery afterwards on both hands.
"No disrespect to Tyler, but Jamel Herring is a world champion and at a higher level so I need to be at my best. That is what I intend to be.
"I haven't been able to spar or hit the heavy bags for a while. From next week I have been given the go-ahead to start doing that again. I have still been training, doing loads of running, shadow boxing and hitting the paddles as well, which kind of replicates the pads, but I have not hit anything solid for the last two weeks.
"It wouldn't have sat right with me to pull out if people had spent their hard-earned money on tickets and travel, but this is completely different and I just want to give myself the best opportunity to win and that is it."
It is a tough break for Herring too, though the 35-year-old admitted he wasn’t altogether surprised by yesterday’s announcement.
“I actually was hearing about this, honestly, for the last two, three days, the rumours,” he told BoxingScene.com. “MTK was frustrated because Frank Warren’s side hasn’t been keeping us in the loop about much. We were still literally last week trying to get plane tickets to go over to the UK.”
However, Herring’s trainer Brian McIntyre was less diplomatic when told about the postponement amid reports that issues regarding the television deal for the fight had been rumbling in the background.
“I think it’s some bullshit. All of a sudden, [Frampton] hurt his hand? Yeah, right,” said McIntyre.
“We didn’t even receive flights or anything before we were supposed to leave and then we got no flights and all of a sudden he hurt his hand? Get the f**k out of here. I don’t know what they’re doing over there.”
