Carl Frampton’s first fight since signing a co-promotional deal with Top Rank will have to wait after a freak accident forced him to withdraw from the fight.
Frampton was set to headline this weekend’s Top Rank on ESPN+ card from Philadelphia, taking on Emmanuel Dominguez. Frampton will now spend the weekend, and even more time beyond that. Frampton suffered two broken bones in his left hand just as he was done preparing for the fight.
The show will go on, but now a 10-round bout between Jason Sosa and Haskell Lydell Rhodes has been elevated from co-main event to the main event. As for the new co-main event, undefeated knockout artist Edgar Berlanga's fight against Gregory Trenel will fill that spot. Also on that card is the pro debut of two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez as he takes on Adan Gonzalez in a four-round featherweight bout.
Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN that Frampton was hanging out in the lobby of the fight hotel when a concrete pillar fell through a curtain and smashed into a table that Frampton had his hands on.
"It is obviously one of the freakiest accidents you can come up with," Moretti said. "In all my years in boxing, broken hands are a common thing after sparring or hitting a heavy bag, but it is not usual that a concrete pillar lands on a boxer's hand.”
This would have been Frampton’s first fight since losing to IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington late last year.
