bout time Carl Frampton will bid to become Ireland’s first ever three-weight world champion on Feb 27

CARL Frampton will bid next month to become Ireland’s first ever three-weight world champion when he challenges former Marine Jamel Herring for the WBO super featherweight belt.

The long-delayed fight is scheduled for February 27 at a yet unnamed venue in London. It will be shown live on Channel 5.

“I'm delighted to finally get a date nailed down for this fight that has now been talked about for over a year. I have the upmost respect for Jamel as a fighter and as a man.

"But there is nobody stopping me on becoming the island of Ireland’s only ever three weight world champ and potentially have one foot in the hall of fame,” said Frampton.

The showdown was originally scheduled for the middle of 2020 before being delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which led to both taking interim fights.

Herring overcame Jonathan Oquendo following a disqualification in Las Vegas, while Frampton defeated Darren Traynor via a seventh-round stoppage in London.

Frampton first became a world champion at super bantamweight back in September 2014 when he overwhelmed Kiko Martinez in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast

He had two successful defences before the now 33-year-old unified his IBF belt with Scott Quigg's WBA title in Manchester, where Frampton won on points.

Then followed two memorable encounters with Leo Santa Cruz at featherweight, where in the first of which Frampton became a two-weight world champion at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, only to come off second best in the rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Frampton set about a rebuild following his Santa Cruz setback and won the WBO interim world featherweight title with a comprehensive defeat of the decorated Nonito Donaire at the SSE Arena in April 2018.

In August of the same year, he got to fulfil a childhood dream of boxing at Belfast's Windsor Park and his Interim status was maintained with a ninth-round stoppage of the Aussie Olympian Luke Jackson. But in December 2018 he suffered his second pro defeat losing to defending IBF World featherweight champion Josh Warrington in Manchester.

Frampton then opted to move to super featherweight and got back to winning ways with a clear points victory over Tyler McCreary in November 2019 in Las Vegas.

Herring(34) has a professional record of 21-2 (10 KOs) and he upset the odds in May of last year by defeating the defending WBO world super featherweight champion Masayuki Ito in Kissimmee.

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Online Editors