ON this day in 2016, Belfast native Carl Frampton edged out a split decision victory over rival Scott Quigg in front of a raucous crowd at the Manchester Arena.
The two undefeated super-bantamweights collided in a unification for the IBF and WBA 122lb world titles that captured the imagination of fight fans in Great Britain.
However, the actual fight was underwhelming to say the least. The first few rounds saw the two world champions hardly landing a meaningful punch, but it was ‘The Jackal’ Frampton who seemed the busier of the two.
Quigg came to life in the second half of the fight, hurting the Northern Irishman in the 11th round, but it was too little too late in eyes of two of the judges who scored the fight 116-112 to Frampton, whereas the other judge surprisingly scored the fight 115-113 in favour of Quigg.
Whilst the action in the ring didn’t match the electric build-up and atmosphere in the arena, it was a night to remember for Frampton, with the victory propelling him to star status.
The Northern Irishman went on to defeat Mexican great Leo Santa Cruz in his next fight to win the WBA strap at featherweight, before ‘El Terremoto’ returned the favour and handed Frampton his first career loss in the rematch.
‘The Jackal’s’ career however was far from over, bouncing back from the loss to Santa Cruz with a points win over Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire in his hometown of Belfast, adding the interim WBO title at featherweight to his collection.
After a failed attempt to win the IBF 126lb title against Josh Warrington, ‘The Jackal’ moved up to super-featherweight to challenge American Olympian Jamel Herring for his WBO world title, however ‘Semper Fi’ proved too much for the Northern Irishman, thwarting his bid to become a three-weight world champion.
Mancunian Quigg would fail to rise to world championship glory again after his clash with Frampton. He did however, challenge Oscar Valdez for his WBO featherweight crown two years later but came up short in a valiant performance where he hurt the Mexican on multiple occasions.
The Bury fighter would ultimately finish his career in the same arena he was eked out by Frampton, suffering a stoppage defeat to Jono Carroll in his final outing. Nevertheless, those losses can hardly taint the memories made in the Manchester Arena where Quigg defended his coveted WBA world title multiple times.
