Carl Frampton and Jamel Herring, in particular, have had a challenging 2020.
Frampton had been preparing to face Vahram Vardanyan on Saturday, but those plans changed last week when the Armenian boxer ran into visa issues and was denied entry into England.
Meanwhile, Herring, the a junior lightweight titleholder, had separate positive COVID-19 results that twice postponed his fight against Jonathan Oquendo. Herring is now set to face Oquendo on Sept. 5.
All this being said, Frampton, who will now face Darren Traynor on Saturday, still feels confident that he’ll get that title shot against Herring late this year.
“[Herring’s in] exactly the same boat as me in terms of mishaps and things gone wrong,” Frampton recently said on “Boxing with Chris Mannix”. “It hasn’t been a great year.
“I feel extremely sorry for (Herring), and I understand what it’s like, and I know Jamel, like myself, he trains away from home,” he continued. “He leaves his family and he goes and trains. He leaves his children and wife behind. I’m sure it would almost feel like a wasted time away from family. It’s got to be hard to deal with.”
He added: “I don’t know him personally, but the impression I have of him is that he’s mentally a very strong person, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to deal with it. I feel like I’m a mentally strong person. I think we’ll get it sorted.”
Frampton (27-2, 15 KOs) hasn’t fought since he shut out Tyler McCreary on Nov. 30. Herring (21-2, 10 KOs) successfully defended his title against Lamont Roach on Nov. 9.