Carl Frampton believes “the stars are coming together” as he concludes preparations for his WBO super-featherweight world title fight with Jamel Herring.
Belfast’s Frampton weighed in marginally heavier than his opponent on Friday at 129.9lbs, with defending champion Herring stepping on the scales at 129.4lbs.
A win would see 34-year-old Frampton become the first Irish fighter to win world titles in three divisions, while defeat will end his career.
“I would join an elite bunch of fighters, so I’m determined to make sure that happens,” he said.
“I respect Jamel Herring and his time, and for me to win this fight I need to get it perfect on the night. I’m fully confident.”
English fighters Bob Fitzsimmons and Duke McKenzie and Scotland’s Ricky Burns are the only British boxers to have won world belts in three different divisions.
Herring ‘has always kept the hunger’
Ex-US Marine Herring has held the WBO belt since 2019 after beating Masayuki Ito.
He is five inches taller than Frampton at 5’10”, with a 72-inch reach compared to the Northern Irishman’s 65-inch arm span.
However, the current champion insists he “can’t just depend on a size advantage.”
The 35-year-old continued: “I’m just going in there, ready to go to work and get my hand raised, because I’ve trained hard.
“I’ve always kept that same hunger throughout camp, even with the postponements.”
Both fighters have two losses on their records. Of Frampton’s 28 wins, 16 have been by knockout.
Herring has won 22 of his 24 bouts, 10 by knockout.
Third time’s a charm
The fight was originally meant to take place in summer 2020 but was postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was then set for London on 27 February, but was delayed again with a new location sought after Frampton sustained a hand injury in training.
The former bantamweight and featherweight champion first fractured his hand in the summer of 2019.
He required surgery on both hands following a unanimous win over Tyler McCreary that November, which was his first fight since losing to Josh Warrington in their 2018 IBF featherweight title class.
Frampton’s last fight was in August 2020 at the York Hall, in which he stopped replacement opponent Darren Traynor in the seventh round.
Herring’s last title defence was against Jonathan Oquendo in September 2020, which he won after Oquendo was disqualified due to repeated intentional headbutting.
