By the time you read this the dust will have long since settled but here goes anyway; Far from being the fireworks display promised by Eddie Hearn to a lofty paying public, Saturday nights Bantam-weight unification 'fight' between fellow Brits IBF Champion Scott Quigg and WBA Champion Carl Frampton 'was little more than a damp squib. There was no great explosion of pent-up anger or aggression from these two men whose biggest argument seems to have been about who had which dressing room on the night, who entered the ring first, who was to be announced first etc, etc. No, such was the anticlimactic nature of this 'clash' that the first six rounds were similar to watching a puddle evaporate. The trash talking, egotistical Frampton, merely pot- shotted timidly at the unbelievably ponderous Quigg who in turn, plodded forward like some kind of Neanderthal getting his first glimpse of fire. When things finally did develop into at least some punches being thrown Frampton seemed unable or at least reluctant to engage and seemed to struggle to cope with Quiggs strength but equally bizarre was that Quigg did very little to capitalize on this fact.
It made me long for the days of Ricky Hatton who, even in the face of far superior boxers, (Kostya Tzyu, Mannie Pacquiao,Floyd Mayweather Junior) always pushed himself forward uncompromisingly, often taking punishment but walking though most punches in order to at least try to put the other guys' lights out in the true spirit of the sport let's not forget; this is how true fighting men should conduct themselves in the ring, especially in pursuit or even more so, in defense of hard earned World Honors. Instead of this, we had this 'handbags at dawn' approach for the first eight rounds, this was little more than reticent, gun shy, playground antics.
When things finally did develop a little Frampton seemed unable to cope with Quigg's strength but equally the over cautious Quigg did very little to capitalize on this fact. In culmination, when urgency finally caught on in the last two or three rounds we were treated to no more than a bog standard, moderately competitive domestic squabble. I've watched far better sparring sessions in my time. Indeed, I've seen better fights outside public houses.
If I'd paid for a ticket to this World Title fight I fear I would be claiming my money back under the trades description act. No one could be satisfied with this none- event and no fighter should have lost his belt here as neither was dominant. However, equally no one deserved to keep their title either. In any case, I imagine Quigg, when watching a rerun of this pantomime of a boxing match will regret not going forward earlier due to fear of the seemingly non-existent punch power from a very weight drained, impotent Frampton. Both men were full of doubt and so both fell into the trap that is obvious when self belief is missing and that is the path requiring the least effort and risk. What a washout!