If Thursday’s press conference is anything to go by, we can expect fireworks at the Odyssey on Saturday night when Carl Frampton and Kiko Martinez meet in the ring.
Both fighters spoke their minds at the Europa yesterday and European champion Martinez seemed agitated as he got stuck into ‘The Jackal’ verbally in front of a massed crowd.
Martinez left no-one in any doubt of why he had flown in from Spain for the contest after Frampton quipped that “the European title is like his hair - he’s losing it.”
Martinez said: “I’ve come here to shut Frampton’s mouth once and for all.
“He’s talked too much and I hope that on Saturday he comes to fight and not to run.
“Frampton didn’t want to leave Belfast for anything. I have always fought away and that shows that I am not a coward like they say I am.
“We’re not scared to go anywhere and I never have been. They are trying to sell in Belfast something that doesn’t exist - Frampton is not a good boxer.
“He and his team know that I am a lot stronger than anyone he’s met and you should all know that. I am not one of the bodies he’s had to face.
“I am properly prepared mentally and physically with a champion’s mentality, which is what I am,” he added.
But Frampton - who will look to take Martinez’s European title off him tomorrow night - was not to be out muscled even during a press conference and he responded much to the delight of the watching crowd
“He thinks he’s the Spanish Hulk Hogan. He thinks he is the strongest man in Spain.
“We’ll see how strong he is when I’m hitting him on the chin with the hardest punches he’s ever been hit with in his life.
“He’s struggling at the weight, he looks gaunt and that might be why he was a bit touchy and he said what he said, but talk is cheap and we’ll see on Saturday if he can back it up,” said Frampton.
But Martinez says he will go home with the European title after tomorrow night’s clash.
“I have trained very well, my preparation has gone well and there will be only one outcome on Saturday night,” he added.
After the press conference Frampton says Kiko’s remarks were like water off a ducks back.
“It’s getting close to business time and the press conference was good fun.
“It was getting to him and I am looking forward to it now. He was a wee bit agitated but he probable has not eaten in three days.
“He is trying to wind me so that I fight his fight, but he has no chance of that happening.
“It has been a long time coming and this is my toughest fight of my career so far, but I want to beat him and beat him in style.
“This is a win that is going to propel me onto the World stage, the big stage. I am looking forward to it.” added Frampton.
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