Carl Frampton “happy to see” Gutierrez secure big fight

There are no sour grapes for Carl Frampton [23(14)-1(0)] as he looks on from the sidelines while other featherweight fighters prepare for big bouts.

‘The Jackal’ saw his Belfast homecoming in July shelved after proposed opponent Andres Gutierrez slipped in the shower the night before the fight at the SSE Odyssey Arena. The Mexican suffered facial lacerations and severe dental damage, ruling him out of the fight and forcing the whole card to be postponed.

While a refixed date in November was mooted by promoter Cyclone, the fight was later cancelled entirely, and Frampton’s departure from the McGuigan-ran outfit was subsequently announced.

Gutierrez [35(25)-1(0)-1] last week has a new big fight announced, and will now face three-weight champ Abner Mares on Saturday October 14th at the StubHub Centre in Carson, California.

Frampton and ‘Jaguarcito’ were both highly respectful of each other in the build-up to their ill-fated bout, and the Belfast man is happy to see the Queretaro man get another life-changing opportunity.

Writing in his weekly column for the Sunday Life, Frampton described how “I don’t think he has much of a chance of causing an upset but I’m happy to see that Andres Gutierrez has been given a fight with Abner Mares.”

“The Mexican, of course, was to have fought me in July before his accident led to the show being cancelled. I know that was going to be a big opportunity for him so it was a big blow but now hopefully he will get good money for facing Mares.”

Gutierrez is being brought in as a tune-up opponent for Mares who is having his rematch with Leo Santa Cruz in the new year built up.

WBA champ Santa Cruz, who traded wins with Frampton, also features on the same card. Here he faces Chris Avalos, who Frampton defeated in an IBF super bantamweight title defence in 2015.

Unlike with Gutierrez, there was no love lost here, and Frampton outlined how “the Yank who got spanked in the Jackal’s Den after shooting his mouth off all week… will find Santa Cruz much too good for him.”