‘Six other guys that just said no’ – Frampton preempts online opponent criticism
Vahram Vardanyan [21(14)-1(0)-1] was the seventh choice of opponent for Carl Frampton’s latest fight.
The Armenian was today [Thursday] confirmed as the fighter who will man the away corner in the BT Sports Studios when ‘The Jackal’ fights for the first time in 2020 on August 15.
The reaction to the fight hasn’t all been positive online. The 31-year-old comes to the ring with 21 wins, 14 of which have come within the distance, and has only lost once.
However, the vast majority of those wins have played out in Riga, Latvia, he remains unknown to boxing fans and has lost to a fighter who has 30 defeats on his record.
It certainly isn’t the level of opponent expected, most likely not the level of foe Frampton [27(15)-2(0)] wanted and not a fighter that should cause a world level operator much issue.
However, circumstances have to be taken into account. The behind closed doors element of the clash means the budget wouldn’t be there to tempt a name to fight the former two weight world champion.
With a world title fight and a chance to make history by becoming Ireland’s first ever three weight world title just around the corner it also wouldn’t be wise to take a massive risk.
Not to mention Top Rank approached six other fighters before offering ‘King Vahram’ a massive opportunity last week.
Most likely aware eyebrows may be raised upon opponent conformation one of Ireland’s greatest ever fighters told the BBC: “It’s my first fight in a new division. We had six other guys that just said no, didn’t want the fight. We were running out of time so we got this guy last week.”
Although the Riga resident wasn’t top of the list and may not be deemed a massive threat by fight fans, he has the potential to be dangerous warns the Jamie Moore trained fighter.
Just because he quality hasn’t been seen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist and Frampton claims he comes motivated and with power.
Although the three weight world title hopeful plans to win in style to ensure his proposed WBO super featherweight world title fight with Jamel Herring remains alive.
“He is right up for it, he is a dangerous guy because he is a puncher, so I’ll have to be at my best. Obviously the objective is to beat him convincingly and get the Jamel Herring fight off the back of it.”
‘We had six other guys that didn’t want the fight’ 💬@RealCFrampton says it’s good to finally get an opponent over the line so he can fine tune his training 💪
— BBC SPORT NI (@BBCSPORTNI) July 23, 2020
🥊 Frampton 🆚 Vardanyan
🗓️ 15 August
More: https://t.co/nBAJVG8noj@BBCSport | @trboxing pic.twitter.com/2rBUTPRJc0
Regardless of what anyone says of the opponent Frampton has to prepare for him and make sure he doesn’t ruin his history hopes.
The Irish star name is now happy he can employ foe specific prep.
“It was a bit annoying to be honest. It’s ok training, but I like to train for a specific opponent. We just didn’t have an opponent to train for. It’s good to get an opponent over the line, so over the next couple of weeks I’ll be tailoring my training to his aggressive style.
