JUST over two weeks shy of Quigg-Frampton, and Joe Gallagher remains convinced his man Quigg will take down Belfast’s ‘Jackal’.
Manchester-born with roots in Sligo, Gallagher - recently named The Ring magazine's Trainer of the Year - claims his man has “fought better and beat better”. He has his say on Quigg, Frampton, tactics, grudges, respect, the MEN, money and more. Andy Watters writes…
Andy Watters: How’s training going?
Joe Gallagher: It’s going really well. Scott’s doing what he’s always done - he trains meticulously, there’s no stone left unturned. Good training, good sparring and we’re really looking forward to it.
AW: Frampton is unbeaten. Before his last fight, he’d never been put down and rarely looked in any real trouble - are you convinced that Scott has his number?
JG: We offered them £1.5million and they said ‘no’ and went to America and fought on a Saturday afternoon in front of 300 people against a Mexican [Alejandro Gonzalez jnr]. Wow, that made good business sense.
They’ve come back with their tail between their legs, thinking ‘lets do Quigg and, if we fight Quigg, we want the biggest ring there is, we want to be on the left hand side of the posters and we want to be introduced second’. Listen, have what you want, we’re not arsed, all we want is the fight and that tells you the mentality of both sides.
AW: When did you first see Carl Frampton and how did you rate him when you first came across him?
JG: I’ve known Carl since he was an amateur, he was on the amateur circuit for Northern Ireland - there was him, David Oliver Joyce and those boys. I’ve known him quite a long time.
I didn’t pay much attention to him because David Oliver Joyce was the main boy over there and, as well as him, there was Joe Murray. So it was only when he turned professional with Barry [McGuigan] and the media coverage he was getting that I started to take heed of him.
AW: At one of the press conferences, you mentioned that the icons in your home growing up were George Best, Alex Higgins, Barry McGuigan and the Pope. You must have strong Irish roots?
JG: My mother and father are from Sligo and I’m over there on February 18 because they’re doing a civic reception for me for the work that I’ve done in world boxing. That’s a huge honour. My parents still live over there, my sisters are there, so it’s a great privilege and honour.
I don’t like this Ireland v England stuff because it isn’t like that. Whoever keeps trying to spin that, it’s rubbish. Quigg’s grandparents are Irish, my parents are Irish, so this England versus Ireland crack is nonsense. Carl has plenty of fans in England and Scott Quigg has plenty of fans in Belfast, northern Ireland and southern Ireland.
AW: After his performance in Texas against Gonzalez and his problems with making the 122lb weight limit, do you feel Carl has out-grown the super-bantamweight division?
JG: In the interview after the fight, you had one blaming the canvas, one blaming the weight and now they’re saying it was the atmosphere and they couldn’t get up for it.
They know what’s going on in the camp, but they must be able to make it [the weight], he took the fight and we have to get Scott Quigg prepared the best he can be. Carl is a world champion and an undefeated fighter, but some of the stuff he comes out with…
AW: You’d have to expect that Carl has learned from what happened in Texas and will adjust accordingly?
JG: From what I’ve heard and from what Shane [McGuigan], who’s the next Messiah, is saying, they’re bringing the weight down earlier for this fight. They’re getting his weight down so it isn’t a factor on the night, but it all remains to be seen. I’m not too bothered about it - he’s a professional, he’s a world champion and this is the biggest fight of his life, so I’m sure he’s going to do everything right.
We’re not worried about Carl Frampton’s weight, we’re just going to concentrate on what he does on the night - his shot selection and stuff like that, that’s all we’re interested in. We want the best Carl Frampton on the night.
AW: Carl has said that getting into a war gives Scott a chance in the fight. How do you think he will play it on the night?
JG: Carl can do a number of things. I’ve looked back and watched his amateur fights - he wasn’t too bad up close, he can go on the front foot, he can go on the back foot… That’s where that amateur pedigree will stand him in good stead and it has done up to now because he had over 100 amateur fights, he boxed all over the world for Ireland.
Scott Quigg only had 12 amateur fights, he’s been learning the job as he goes along. Whatever Carl does on the night - whether he goes forward, backward or tries to bamboozle us, we’ll bamboozle him back. Whatever he wants, whatever he brings, we’ve got an answer for and we’ve got the power and I know, as much as they can blame the weight and the canvas, Carl knows he’s been put down now.
AW: If Frampton had won that Gonzalez fight with an impressive knockout, would we even be talking about him and Scott Quigg now?
JG: For him [Frampton] to say we wouldn’t have taken the fight if hadn’t have got knocked down… That’s a load of rubbish. We offered him a million and-a-half pound before he had the fight in the States and they didn’t put any offers on the table, so it’s ludicrous for them to say that.
They’re only taking the fight now because they’ve been knocked down and they all thought ‘crap - the golden chicken’s gonna get done here, we’d better get back and get the money [for the Quigg fight] while we can before the wheels come off in America again’. They didn’t set the world alight [in Texas], they’ve been on about Al Haymon and he must have watched it and thought ‘you’re fighting a bantamweight here and you got dropped. How I can sell that and [Leo] Santa Cruz?’.
They didn’t have anything to take to the bargaining table, so as regards them saying they had big-money fights… They had no big-money fights because the big-money fight is Quigg. If you look at Abner Mares when he fought Santa Cruz, I think they were on $1.2m, so how does Carl think he’s going to get any more?
The only big-money fight for Carl was to come back and fight Scott Quigg and that’s why the fight is happening - because they had nowhere else to go. I think there’s a sense of reality dawning on them now and they’re thinking ‘we can’t say he’s the paper champion, we say he’s this or that because we’re going to have to fight him’. We beat Kiko Martinez, better than Carl, we beat Rendall Munroe, the man who beat Kiko, so whatever they say, we’ve fought better and beat better.
AW: You’ve been involved in some massive fights. But this is a pay-per-view domestic blockbuster - where does it rank in your career?
JG: I’ve got Jose Burton fighting on the bill for the British title and that fight is just as important to me as Scott Quigg is. Marcus Morrison is on the card and that’s a fight we’ve got to go in and win.
Each fight is an important fight because it’s the next step up the ladder and it’s the same for Scott Quigg. Just because of the media attention, a sold-out arena and a few more interviews doesn’t mean there’s more pressure on me or it’s more important to me. Whether it's Carl Frampton, Santa Cruz, Nonito Donaire, Rigondeaux, it’s an important fight for Scott Quigg because he has to win to move on to where he wants to go to next, just like Jose Burton does.
It’s a huge fight, it’s a Sky Box Office event, it has packed out the arena, but it’s nothing that will phase us. We’ve been very privileged over the years to box at the arena, attend events at the arena, there’s been Ricky Hatton in America, so we’ve been around the big fights.
As daft as it sounds, it’s nothing new to me, nor Quigg neither and I know people will talk about the fans there and I say ‘what, do you not think we’ve been to a boxing show before?’. Of course we have, so it’s nothing that we’re scared of, so if that’s what they’re banking on, well, they’ll need something better than that.
AW: A lot has been made of the atmosphere. Carl will have a lot of fans in Manchester and he’ll hope they can turn the MEN Arena into the Odyssey in Belfast. Do you expect the crowd to play a part in the fight?
JG: It’s not just a fight, it’s an event and it’s going to be a great event. I want everyone to come over, I want everyone to go to the show and have a great time. The atmosphere will be brilliant, everyone will have a great craic and enjoy a great fight. In years to come, they’ll say ‘you know what? I was at that! What a show!’. I think that’s how it’s going to be.
Anyone who’s lucky enough to have got a ticket is in for a great night and Manchester knows how to put on a great sporting event - 20,000 in a packed-out arena. We’ve done it with Hatton, Froch, Groves, Mike Tyson, David Haye, Naseem Hamed and this is going to be another great night and a great fight.
AW: Things got quite heated during the press conference tour at times - Barry McGuigan calling you “a fool” at one stage - but do you feel that your side got the better of the exchanges?
JG: Judging by things, the first time they’ve been on a quote-unquote ‘big press tour’, their heads fell off, so God knows what they’re going to do [on fight night].
Carl said we disrespected him at the press conference because we were talking when they were talking, but we were conferring on what to say. But hang on a minute, wasn’t he holding up pieces of paper saying ‘paper champion’ and that he was the real champion while Scott was talking. So he showed the most disrespect, so they need to have a long look at themselves and the way they behave.
AW: Carl described you and Eddie Hearn the promoter as “arrogant” and has made no attempt to hide the fact that he doesn’t particularly like either of you. Is this a grudge match then? Has it become personal?
JG: As far as I’m concerned, I’ve been in the sport. I’ve been an amateur coach for years, I’ve paid my dues, I’ve been a pro coach for years and I’ve served my time. The next thing, I see an interview with Shane McGuigan or Barry calling me an idiot. I’m like ‘Hang on lads, have a bit of respect’.
Shane’s just walked into the job and Gerry Storey had done fantastic work. I must know what I’m doing, The Ring magazine has just named me Trainer of the Year, I’ve trained three world champions, so you can’t just come jumping in and call me an idiot. I never disrespected Barry, I understand he was a great fighter, but now he is a manager/promoter and, in his words, we’re the enemy.
If that’s the mindset and the siege mentality he has, then so be it, but then if we say something back then we’re disrespecting them… It has to work both ways and, if you can’t take it, then don’t give it.
