by David P. Greisman

Gennady Golovkin is a Kazakhstani man now based in the United States who has courted Mexican and Mexican-American boxing fans, allowing him to become a draw not only in New York City but in Southern California as well.

That’s what Barry McGuigan, manager of Carl Frampton, is hoping will happen for the 122-pound titleholder. Frampton is a star in Northern Ireland but will be making his American debut on July 18 in El Paso, Texas, appearing on a “Premier Boxing Champions” main event on CBS in his first fight with adviser Al Haymon. Frampton faces Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.

“Carl wants to do what GGG has done. We want to get the Mexican fans on our side, too,” McGuigan said. “Obviously the fight against Alejandro Gonzalez is a fight Carl must win and win impressively, and we hope that we will garner some support from the Mexicans fans, too, and they will appreciate Carl’s style.”

Frampton, 28, is 20-0 with 14 KOs. He won his world title with a decision over Kiko Martinez in September and then defended it this past February with a stoppage of Chris Avalos.

Gonzalez, 22, is 25-1-2 with 15 KOs, with that lone loss coming by technical decision against Juan Alberto Rosas back in April 2104. Gonzalez has won three in a row since.

Their fight will be preceded by a bout between heavyweights Chris Arreola and Fred Kassi. The card is part of a day-night show, with a Showtime broadcast emanating from the same arena later that night and featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. against Marcos Reyes.

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