SCOTT QUIGG intends to capitalise on Carl Frampton’s ‘vulnerabilities’ when they fight for the IBF and WBA world super-bantamweight titles at the Manchester Arena on February 27.
The highly-anticipated clash is considered by most a 50-50 affair and both men will be looking for any advantage they can take into fight night.
With the fight taking place not far from Quigg’s hometown of Bury, he will be the ‘home’ fighter on the night and is confident that will affect his adversary.
“I don’t take note whether I’ve got the crowd behind me or whether it was behind him. You know, when you’re in that ring there’s only you two and the ref,” he said.
“You can do all the preparation with your team leading up to the fight, but when that bell goes everybody steps down, and then there’s only you and him in the ring.
“I know what I’ve got to do. I know for a fact that he takes comfort from having a lot of support. Especially when he boxes in Ireland, it’s like a bit of a comfort blanket for him. And when he’s taken away from that, he shows vulnerabilities. And I think that will affect him on the night.”
Frampton boxed Alejandro Gonzalez Jnr in El Paso, Texas in his most recent outing, rising from the canvas in the first round to claim a unanimous decision.
By admission, it was his worst performance to date and Scott feels it came as a result of competing outside of his home country.
He said: “In my opinion, he likes his comfort blanket, which is fighting in his hometown. And he showed vulnerabilities in that fight [against Gonzalez].
But he came back, he got the win but he showed these little weaknesses in his armor, that I’d already seen. I’m expecting him to go back to the drawing board and iron the mistakes out, but there’s a lot more mistakes that I will pick up on.”
The IBF and WBA have both stated they will enforce their mandatory rules on the Frampton-Quigg winner, meaning whoever prevails will most likely have to vacate one of their titles. The IBF insist the winner must face Shingo Wake, while the WBA have made Guillermo Rigondeaux – who was stripped of their title – the mandated challenger.
Quigg maintains he will fight the best.
“At the end of the day my focus is on beating Carl Frampton. I’ll beat Carl Frampton, and then we’ll look at fighting the best in there, and obviously you’ve got one winner,” he said.
“And I’ve always said, ‘I’m out to fight the best and beat the best.’ So, I’m obviously going to fight Rigondeaux. I’m not scared of fighting him. I’m not shying away from challenges.
“As I’ve just stated, it’s about what I do. I challenge myself and that’s what I thrive on. And obviously fighting Rigondeaux, who’s rightly so ranked number one in the division because of what he’s achieved and what he’s done so far, I honestly believe that if the time comes and me and him fight, I believe I can beat him.”
