Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing host what is the weekend’s biggest show at the Manchester Arena this Saturday, February 27th. It’ll be 10 live fights in all, with the feature bouts airing on SKY Box Office in the UK and Showtime in the United States, seven of the bouts are already posted at the sport books. The event is co-promoted by Barry McGuigan and the fight has the been getting unprecedented attention and publicity because of the popularity of the two men. The main event is a Super Bantamweight title unification bout over 12 rounds between IBF champion Carl Frampton (21-0) and WBA champion Scott Quigg (31-0-2). The match was announced in November of last year by Hearn, and the line opened with Frampton the early favorite. Now, with less than a week until the fight, the line has not changed much and sees Frampton a -175 favorite over Quigg, who is returning at +155. The over/under is set for 11 1/2, with the over at -120 and the under at +100. Frampton is from Belfast and Quigg is from the Manchester area, so the regional rivalries that are rife on the British Isles are in full effect. The bout pits two of the top three fighters in the weight class and has been years in the making. Quigg is slightly younger than Frampton at 27 years old, and he is also going to be taller and have greater reach. Frampton however is commonly thought to have the more difficult tests on his resume, and he has the added experience of having fought in the United States. Frampton was dropped twice in the opening round of his last fight back in July when he faced Alejandro Gonzalez Jr in Texas, but he got up off the canvas and managed to win the fight and retain his world title. Oddly that fight had the effect of buoying the confidence of both men, as Frampton showed his mettle, while Quigg feels the opportunity that Gonzalez Jr let slip by. Ther eis no love lost between the two men, and if either man gets a chance to finish his opponent, they wil ltake it.
Notes: The fight sees McDonnell (14-0-2) taking on Panama’s Jorge Sanchez (15-0) for the vacant WBC Silver belt. This is Sanchez first bout that is scheduled for 12 rounds, while McDonnell has been fighting at a regional title level for some time.
Several of the other bouts are at the sport books as well and the lines are listed below.