Post-fight reaction: Barry McGuigan responds to media questions

By Steve Wellings

Carl Frampton, Barry McGuigan and Shane McGuigan took to the top table at the post-fight press conference to discuss Carl’s fifth-round knockout of Chris Avalos in the Odyssey Arena on February 28. Cyclone Promotions’ main man Barry McGuigan discussed some of the talking points generated during the evening, both in and out of the ring.

How is Carl maturing as a fighter and growing into this Odyssey atmosphere?

It is a remarkable venue and Carl is a remarkable fighter. I really believe that Frampton is an exceptional fighter and that he can go on to be one of the best Irish fighters there has ever been. Tonight he fought a kid who was number one in the world with the IBF, number one in the world with the WBO, and in the top five in the world with all the other governing bodies, and Carl just dismantled him and took him apart. And, as always, the atmosphere was just fantastic and just gets better and better. Can anyone here remember a more raucous atmosphere?

Where will Carl box next and what’s the TV situation?

We feel like we want to go and box in England now and box in America as well, but we want to get the timing right. We really believe that there is a future to be had with ITV. Look at what’s happening across the water? What’s Al Haymon doing? And NBC? They realise the value of boxing being on free-to-air television and we should too. If we’re all less greedy, this could be a major event in the summer on ITV.

Where does WBA ‘Regular’ champion Scott Quigg fit into all of this?

I don’t want to be rude to him – he, obviously can draw a fair number of people in his hometown – but Carl Frampton is THE attraction and I really can’t wait to see what the result for ITV was tonight. He really is an amazing talent and an amazing draw. The arena tonight was just incredible; I honestly don’t think it has ever been like that before. We haven’t got the feedback yet, but we’ll sit down with ITV over the next week.

Steve Wellings writes the Irish Boxing Review books.