Carl Frampton Back In the Spotlight For Must Not Lose Fight Against Nonito Donaire

There is a massive weekend of boxing to look forward to for fans of the British fight game with no more important bout on the agenda than the return of Carl Frampton on Saturday night.

The Belfast fighter has endured a roller coaster last two years with a stunning unification win over Leo Santa Cruz the highlight back in 2016, followed by a narrow defeat in the rematch and a subsequent split and legal difficulties with former trainer Shane McGuigan and Cyclone Promotions.

Those legal battles remain ongoing but Frampton (24-1) is on the verge of fighting for world honours once again, and mustn't slip up as he faces the world class Nonito Donaire (38-4) in front of his home fans. 

A low-key points win over Hector Garcia last time out hardly inspired confidence that "The Jackal" was back to his best a but a new partnership with Jamie Moore in his corner has now had time to bed-in, and the former WBA featherweight king will start a warm order to beat the 2nd most famous fighter hailing from the Philippines.

Donaire has long lived in the shadow of Manny Pacquaio, but he is a highly respected fighter in his own right and been a world champion at no less than four weight divisions. "The Filipino Flash" was at one stage considered amongst the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, although one or two recent defeats, coupled with the inevitably creeping of father time, mean that the majority of on-lookers believe his best days are now in the past. 

The 35-year-old remains hungry though and should offer the home fighter a tricky test this weekend, especially if we see the same Frampton which limped to victory against Garcia last time.

The Jackal is the naturally bigger man and his supporters will be hoping that tells against a fighter who has spent the majority of his career in the lower weight classes. A brutal KO at the hands of Nicholas Walters came at featherweight back in 2014 and although Donaire will tell you otherwise, size does matter when it comes to the sweet science.

At his best, Donaire was known as a brilliant counter puncher who picked his shots and invariably came out on top but at this veteran stage of his career, those powers do appear to be on the wain, especially up in weight.

At 31, Frampton certainly is young enough to have another run at the big time but he does need a performance in this key fight.

Only beaten once, the Northern Irishman hasn't got too many miles on the clock but he has been out of the limelight in terms of the world stage since losing that re-match to Leo Santa Cruz in January 2017, and any more slip ups could be difficult to come back from.

A convincing win on Saturday night though and The Jackal is right back in the mix to reclaim a world title. A third fight with Leo Santa Cruz makes perfect sense with the winner taking all, whilst Lee Selby faces Josh Warrington for the IBF strap in May and provided Frampton wins this weekend, the opportunity to fight the winner must be there for the taking.

A 2nd fight with old rival Scott Quigg also lays tantalisingly ahead for Frampton meaning this fight in Belfast is one of the biggest of his career to-date. Win and he's back at the top table in the division but taste defeat again and it is hard to see the once dominant former champion making it back.

This is a fight Frampton cannot afford to lose.