Frank Warren warns Frampton against Jackson slip-up

Carl Frampton should ignore the Twitter chatter about Luke Jackson and focus on avoiding any form of upset come August 18th.

The announcement of the Tasmanian as ‘The Jackal’s’ Windsor Park opponent wasn’t overly welcomed around the world despite the fact Frampton’s options were extremely limited, with all four featherweight world champions unavailable.

The 33-year-old’s lack of pro experience at world level was cited, and acknowledged by Jackson, with his career-best win having been a competitive ten-round points win over Humberto De Santiago who was later stopped in three rounds by Jono Carroll.

Ranked #43 in the world by BoxRec.com – and #2 in Australia behind Nathaniel May – there were some who were highly critical of the selection, especially considering the stage.

However, Warren claims 31-year-old Frampton can’t afford to take the 2012 Olympian lightly because his big fight chances depend on an August 18th win.

“We can’t afford any slip-ups,” stated Warren.

“The important from Carl’s perspective is he can’t afford to fall over on this one. He has to win this one so we can make him and Josh Warrington,”  the veteran promoter explained before explaining how they came about choosing the world ranked Jackson.

“There was a lot of guys unavailable and obviously to defend his title he has to fight someone out of the top 10 in the WBO. Luke Jackson was ranked #5 and he was available and I think he is one of the best guys in that division.”

The promoter is confident Frampton will emerge victorious from the WBO interim title defence, but warns that the undefeated challenger has upset potential.

“I didn’t notice till after we made the fight and I looked at his amateur record, he’d won a Commonwealth bronze medal within a year of starting boxing [NOTE: Warren is incorrect here, Jackson won a Commonwealth bronze medal in his third year of boxing].”

“He is obviously a competitive guy, he has fought around the world and is an undefeated fighter. We have seen a few upsets over the last year, some serious upsets and he thinks he is coming here to be an other one. He fancies the job, his team fancy the job and we will see on the night.”

While none of the world champions were available and Scott Quigg allegedly priced himself out of the contest, Kid Galahad was one willing fighter that some felt might add to the build up as well as being a superior opponent to Jackson in the ring.

However, according to Warren, the Ingle Gym graduate was never a runner due to his departure from Queensberry last year and signing with Matchroom.

“Kid Galahad had a fight with me last year then he went off and signed with another promoter. That’s his call. I am in the business of looking after my fighters. Regarding Scott Quigg he was just too expensive and, as Carl said, he has already beaten him.”