When Carl Frampton defends his interim featherweight world title for the first time on Aug. 18 at Windsor Park in his hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will continue his comeback on the undercard, MTK Global, the management company that represents both fighters, announced Monday.
Fury, whose personal problems kept him out of the ring for 31 months after he outpointed Wladimir Klitschko in a gigantic upset to win his three belts and the lineal world title in November 2015, returned Saturday in his hometown of Manchester, England. He stopped blown up cruiserweight Sefer Seferi (23-2, 21 KOs), who quit after the fourth round of a fight in which very little happened.
Fury (26-0, 19 KOs), 29, who was a career-heavy 276 pounds and was very rusty, hopes to stay active and work himself back into shape. No opponent has been named for Fury or for Frampton.
Frampton (25-1, 14 KOs), 31, who has won world titles at junior featherweight and featherweight and was the 2016 ESPN fighter of the year, claimed a vacant interim belt by unanimous decision against former titlist Nonito Donaire on April 21 at the SSE Arena in Belfast.
Frampton knew before the fight that a win could pave the way to a summer outing at Windsor Park, a famed outdoor soccer stadium that opened in 1905. Frampton has dreamed of boxing there.
“It means the world to me. It’s something I’ve dreamed about for a long time,” Frampton said. “I feel it should’ve happened last year, but it’s happening now.
“I’ve loads left. My last performance was the second-best of my career after the first Leo Santa Cruz fight. I feel like I’m enjoying it more, and while I’m still performing, I’ll do it as long as I can. It’s great to have Tyson Fury on the undercard. To have someone of his stature on the undercard is massive, and he’ll be up against a more serious opponent this time, so it’s good for everyone.”