Carl Frampton in line to face WBO champion Jamel Herring late in 2020
Herring was due to fight on Tuesday night but tested positive for Covid-19
Belfast fighter Carl Frampton (27-2-0, 15 KOs) looks set to fight WBO super-featherweight champion Jamel Herring (21-2-0, 10 KOs) towards the end of 2020 after both fighters take to the ring in August, before facing off later in the year.
This comes after Herring was forced to withdraw from his scheduled contest against Jonathan Oquendo (31-6-0, 19 KOs) on Tuesday night in Las Vegas due to a second positive test for Covid-19 on weigh-in day. This particular bout had already been rescheduled and pushed back to July 14, initially, but could not go ahead once again, throwing the American’s plans into disarray.
Top Rank promoter, Bob Arum, has now opened the door for a title fight later in the year with Frampton, unveiling plans for an initial August bout for the 34-year-old New York-born champion, in preparation for the WBO title defence in the final quarter of 2020.
He said on Twitter: "We were greatly saddened when Jamel Herring tested positive for COVID-19. We expect not only him back in the ring in August, but also Carl Frampton. If they’re both victorious, we will attempt to match them against each other in the fourth quarter of 2020."
Frampton, 33 is a former two-weight world champion, having held the unified WBA (Super) and IBF super-bantamweight titles between 2014 and 2016, and the WBA (Super) featherweight title from 2016 to 2017 and was also awarded an MBE in 2016, in addition to 'Fighter of the Year' by The Ring Magazine.
Despite losing to IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington back in 2018, Frampton has since had a new reign of success after moving up a division and, in his most recent bout in November, he called out Herring and plotted his intentions to take big fights in the near future.
He said: "I want to fight for world titles. I want big fights. I would love the chance to fight Jamel."
August appears to be the current target for a return to the ring for the ‘Jackal’ and appears set to feature on a card with Michael Conlan in his home city, with Top Rank and MTK Global working towards a finalised date which will most likely take place behind closed doors.
Frampton had previously revealed he was back in training in Manchester with Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis, but remains unsure of his next opponent in August.
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