Why Carl Frampton Is Certain That Al Haymon Will Make Him a Boxing Star

American fight fans will get their first opportunity to view super bantamweight titlist Carl Frampton up close Saturday afternoon when he makes his stateside debut in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card on CBS.

Frampton raised some eyebrows when he inked a deal with manager/adviser/action-movie villain (depending on one’s perspective) Al Haymon in May. He’s a huge star throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and much of Europe, but the allure of global superstardom was too much to pass up.

“It was a pretty easy decision, to be honest,” Frampton told Bleacher Report about joining Haymon’s 200-plus fighter stable. “I think that the exposure we can get with Al Haymon is absolutely massive and huge.”

The 28-year-old from Belfast, Northern Ireland, next defends his version of the 122-pound crown against Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. at the Don Haskins Convention Center in El Paso, Texas.

Gonzalez is a prospect whose father is a former world champion with wins over Luisito Espinosa, Kevin Kelly and Orlando Salido, among others, but nothing in his resume says he’s ready to make the jump from marginal opposition to what he’ll see Saturday afternoon.

Frampton and his team, led by Hall of Fame fighter-turned-manager Barry McGuigan, are professionals who will never look past an opponent. But they’re all smart people who understand that big exposure and big opportunities come next.

“He’s (Haymon) got a lot of the top fighters around the super bantamweight division. All these names that I want to fight, you know,” Frampton said. “Leo Santa Cruz, Abner Mares, Gary Russell.

“So without linking up with him, it would have been pretty hard to make them fights (sic). If you want to do anything in America at the minute the way boxing is going, Al Haymon is the man to link up with, and we’ve done that.”

Peter Morrison/Associated Press

Haymon’s name is the No. 1 buzzword in the boxing industry today.

He’s loved or reviled, depending on where you sit.

Haymon’s many supporters, led primarily by active fighters on his roster, talk up his ability to generate exposure, marketing opportunities and fatter paychecks through investor funding and the many network-television deals he’s secured for PBC.

His detractors, including rivals Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, who have each filed independent lawsuits, accuse the reclusive power broker of nefarious and monopolistic intentions. The long-term financial sustainability of PBC’s business model will eventually prove itself out, and the legalese will be handled by high-priced lawyers in handsome suits.

Love him or hate him, Haymon has consolidated a tremendous amount of power in American boxing in a short span of time. Reaching across the pond to snag a fighter with elite-level skills—which few if any saw coming—was a big coup, one that works for all parties.

“There isn’t any bigger than Al Haymon at the moment if you want to get into the American market,” McGuigan said.

“The reality is, Carl is a superstar in Britain and in Europe and in Ireland. And the reality is that when your career is dead and buried, all they remember is the stuff you’ve done in the United States.”

Making his mark in the United States shouldn’t be all that difficult for Frampton.

He’s got an exciting style that lends itself to action and should be able to quickly endear himself to the tens of millions of Irish boxing fans who dot the American landscape, particularly in major East Coast cities like New York and Boston.

Which makes it all the more puzzling that his first fight beyond European shores is to take place in El Paso, which, in case you were wondering, isn’t really much of a mecca when it comes to Irish boxing.

That decision might seem odd at a glance, but it’s at least partly a reality necessitated by a fighter who wants to remain true to his loyal fans back home while expanding the market abroad.

McGuigan pointed out that Frampton's fighting in Texas could prove a boon in the same way that Gennady Golovkin, through his exciting style, has been able to draw in Mexican fight fans in droves. That type of broad-based appeal is what differentiates a star from a superstar.

Peter Morrison/Associated Press

That’s certainly true, but, at least in this case, El Paso represents a marriage of convenience.

“That’s where we want to be. We want to be fighting around the East Coast. New York, Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, those sort of places, Boston potentially as well,” Frampton said.

“So East Coast is where we want to be. I think El Paso was the only matinee show that we could link up with British TV Time. So it’s setting pretty in the U.K. at the minute, it’s being shown at around 10:00 p.m. out of the U.K.”

Don’t get your Irish up yet, East Coast boxing fans.

Your time will come, but it’s not here yet.

Frampton says that there’s a good chance his next fight could take place back in the United Kingdom or Ireland. He doesn’t want to lose sight of his roots, or of the people who have supported him and made him a star capable of taking this next step in his journey.

It's one that Frampton is confident will be a success.

“I think they’ll appreciate the way I fight. It’s all well and good, me winning fights, but I think what the Americans and boxing fans want to see is exciting fighters, and I think that I’ve got an exciting style to please them.”

Kevin McRae is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter @McRaeWrites. All quotes were obtained firsthand.