Carl Frampton hopes for compromise with “delusional” Lee Selby

Carl Frampton [23(14)-1(0)] didn’t get the big Belfast fight he wanted this Summer, but the Tiger’s Bay featherweight is hopeful of a Christmas cracker.

Should he defeat Andres Gutierrez at the SSE Odyssey Arena on July 29th, Frampton is keen to fight again before Christmas as he aims to have his first holiday period off in years.

‘The Jackal’s’ preferred opponent is IBF champion Lee Selby, but he does not think that the Welshman’s choice of venue is realistic.

A fight between the pair had been discussed for this Summer, with talks eventually falling apart after Team Frampton learnt from the IBF that Selby could not swerve his mandatory Jonathan Victor Barros – although Team Selby would dispute this.

In any regard, Selby defends his belt versus Barros two weeks prior to Frampton’s homecoming – and the Belfast man wants to then go into a fight with the ‘Welsh Mayweather,’ on neutral ground.

Writing in his weekly column for the Sunday Life, Frampton outlined how “wins for both of us and I’m confident that we can get a deal done for a box office fight in December that everyone wants to see.”

“A showdown with Selby probably makes the most sense for both of us”

Reigning champion Selby is apparently keen on the fight taking place in Cardiff, under the roof at the Principality Stadium (The Millennium Stadium), however Frampton feels this plan is somewhat far-fetched.

The Ulsterman described how “I know that it’s a very big fight but Selby is just being delusional when he says that we could bring the fight to the Principality Stadium and sell it out.”

“I know the support I can bring to a fight and that has been shown again with the overwhelming demand for my fight with Gutierrez, but the reality is that Selby doesn’t sell a ticket even though he’s World champion, so you couldn’t go to the Principality in Cardiff and expect to get 60,000.”

“We obviously couldn’t go outdoor in Belfast because of the time of year so the natural venue is somewhere like the Manchester Arena or the O2 in London.”