Carl Frampton has Scott Quigg in his sights

Carl Frampton revealed he will earn in excess of the £1.5 million (€2.1m) promoter Eddie Hearn had previously offered him to fight Scott Quigg when the pair fight in Manchester next year.

The February 27 world super- bantamweight title unification clash of Frampton and Quigg is still 101 days away, but the Sky Box Office hype train is already picking up speed.

A three-date press tour yesterday culminated in Belfast after dates in London and Manchester, the latter hosting the bout at the Manchester Arena (formerly the MEN) next spring, and the inevitable pre-fight trash talk is well underway after reaching new levels of vitriol between both fighters and their teams yesterday.

Tensions were high during yesterday’s top-table proceedings in front of a packed crowd in their hundreds at the Europa Hotel as the event was opened to the Belfast public, with Frampton’s mentor Barry McGuigan labelling rival Matchroom promoter Hearn an “arsehole” after the latter had told the Belfast fighter he was only getting a career-high purse thanks to the financial clout of himself and Sky Sports.

Frampton, who was previously promoted by Hearn, had earlier mocked the promoter, calling him a “liar” for doing a U-turn on a 2013 prediction when he said the Belfast native would easily beat Quigg.

“What they’re trying to do is make Scott Quigg’s name off the back of me and link him to me at every opportunity,” said Frampton, speaking to print media after the top-table trash talk.

“The guy [Quigg] doesn’t have much of a personality. He’s a bit boring. He struggles to talk when people ask him questions.

“Eddie’s haemorrhaging money on [promoting] him so he’s trying to get it back in some form and they’re linking him with me.”

Frampton revealed he will earn significantly more than the £1.5m offer put to him by Hearn to take the bout last April with the Belfast native’s purse expected to be boosted by pay-per-view TV money and a bumper Irish crowd travelling to Manchester.

“That bullshit £1.5m cheque… I’m going to make a lot more money in this fight,” said Frampton. “It’s not all about money but I didn’t want to be fighting for that while Eddie Hearn and Scott Quigg were lining their pockets with more money than me.

“It’a potential figures because we don’t know exactly what I’m going to earn. It’s not all about money but I want to have some security for my family, so it is a big deal,” added Frampton.

Both undefeated fighters have been on a collision course for some time, with Belfast boy Frampton (21 wins, no losses) mentioning Bury native Quigg (31 wins, no losses, two draws) as a potential foe as far back as 2010.

The pair have since gone on to claim numerous honours, Frampton taking the IBF world title while Quigg has picked up a version of the WBA world crown, lending another level of intrigue to a fight which attracted a raucous Belfast crowd of nearly a thousand to yesterday’s press event.

“I’ve never experienced that sort of hostility and that sort of atmosphere,” said McGuigan of the press event, and the former world champion expects a massive Irish crowd to travel to Manchester.

Team Frampton have encouraged fans to look for tickets through both Ticketmaster and the Manchester Arena when they go on sale tomorrow morning such is the expected level of demand.

“The arena have said they have never, ever, not just in boxing, but in every event, they’ve never had the interest they’ve had for this, and that includes [Ricky] Hatton’s fights,” added McGuigan.