Carl Frampton: "For Jamel to call Tommy a sparring partner, it was very disrespectful"
Frampton vs Herring will be live on BT Sport on February 27
Jamel Herring (22-2, 10 KOs) defends his WBO World super-featherweight title against Carl Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs) in London on February 27, live in the UK on BT Sport.
Frampton is boldly attempting to go down in the record books by becoming the island of Ireland’s first ever three-weight world champion, but reigning champion 'Semper Fi' Herring insists it won’t be a history-making moment for 'The Jackal' ahead of their WBO World super-featherweight title showdown next month.
The Tiger Bay native is one of NI's most successful sports stars of all-time as a two-weight world champion, and he aims to solidify his place in the history books by winning a third world title at super-featherweight.
However, Herring is confident of ending those plans, and has dismissed the claims that his sparring with Terence Crawford will be a problem.
Herring said: “It’s time to ruin plans and crush dreams. First it was my size, now they’re worrying about who I’m sparring with. Last I checked, I didn’t know Terence Crawford and I were sparring to kill each other.
“Just be ready to fight when the bell rings. I’m focused over here and I’m cooler than the other side of the pillow. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone soon. I’m excited to jump into a huge matchup. I’ll focus and ignore all distractions.”
Both men have made it clear that they respect the other, but Frampton felt there was one area of concern that he needed to address.
'The Jackal' said: “I have lot of respect for Herring, I respect him as a man and a fighter, but I have full confidence in myself that I will beat this guy. I think it is meant to be and meant to happen, so I’m not going to let him take it off me. I feel like I will do whatever it takes to have my hand raised at the end of the fight.
“There are a few things I’d like to say to him though. He reacts to everything I’ve said online. If people don’t have the same opinion of him as how the fight goes, he reacts to it. Jamel seems to be a good guy, but he threw a sly dig at Tommy Coyle last night and called him a glorified sparring partner.
“He said that because Coyle said he feels like I’ll win. He’s my friend and has seen me up close and personal, so Jamel should not be offended by this and he shouldn’t react to this. It’s a bit of mudslinging and there is no need to do it.
“Tommy Coyle is a good fighter and has done a lot more than he wanted to do when he turned professional. For Jamel to call Tommy a sparring partner, it was very disrespectful. He doesn’t need to react to anything.
“Some think he’ll win, some think I’ll win. It doesn’t bother me if they think he’ll win. He needs to chill out, and I’ll see see you in London on February 27.”
Frampton-Herring takes place on Frank Warren and Queensberry Promotions' first show of 2021, in association with MTK Global.
HÖRFA are proud sponsors of British Boxing News