How James Tennyson almost wrecked Carl Frampton vs Scott Quigg

Tennyson nearly ruined Carl Frampton vs Scott Quigg

JAMES TENNYSON breathed a sigh of relief when Carl Frampton defeated Scott Quigg. Not just because the featherweight, like Frampton, is a Belfast man but because he had almost wrecked the fight before it’d even happened.

Tennyson was Framptonโ€™s last sparring partner and in the final seconds of their final spar Carl picked up a cut. โ€œ15 seconds to go I think it was. I think everyone was on edge, there was panic about the gym,โ€ Tennyson tells Boxing News. โ€œIโ€™m not too sure [how it happened]. The last 15 seconds I think we started trading. Iโ€™m not too sure if it was a left uppercut but a left uppercut caught him in the eye. I didnโ€™t even know Iโ€™d done it until they went and got their drinks in the cornerโ€ฆ He let out quite a loud scream. It was obviously panic, he thought the fight was over. I panicked myself. It would have been bad, the guyโ€™s been in training camp 17 odd weeks. Heโ€™s been away from his family. It would all have been for nothing but thankfully they got the eye sorted and he got the job done. Big relief. I would have felt gutted for him,โ€ James said.

The fight had been five years in the making, was on pay-per-view and there was a lot of money at stake. It might have been ruined. โ€œIt would have been,โ€ Tennyson said, before adding with some understatement, โ€œThat wouldnโ€™t be cool.โ€

Tennyson is out himself on April 30, challenging British champion Ryan Walsh on the Billy Joe Saunders undercard. โ€œHeโ€™s a good fighter. Iโ€™m really looking forward to the fight. Itโ€™s going to be exciting, itโ€™s going to be explosive,โ€ James promises. โ€œIโ€™ve had 17 fights, 16 wins, one loss. I was actually knocked out, it was in the Odyssey Arena in 2013. I was young, I was pretty immature to be honest and Iโ€™d say that loss has probably got me to where I am today. Itโ€™s made me stronger mentally and physically and itโ€™s got me here.

โ€œIt was 2013, it was early in my career, I was young. Iโ€™ve come on leaps and bounds from it. Iโ€™ve won the Irish super-featherweight title, I won the Celtic featherweight title and the Celtic featherweight titleโ€™s got me here.โ€

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