CARL FRAMPTON’S fight with Mexico’s Andres Gutierrez in Belfast was called off on Friday night with less than 24 hours’ notice.

Promoter Barry McGuigan said that Gutierrez had slipped in the shower and suffered concussion along with a number of facial wounds.

Speaking on BBC Newsline, along with a picture of Gutierrez’s cut chin, McGuigan said: “We’re all so disappointed, it was a freak accident. He slipped in the shower, smashed his face, the guy is concussed. He’s a deep gash on his chin, his nose, lost two of his teeth.”

It means Frampton’s Belfast homecoming will not take place.

The 30-year-old, once a world champion at featherweight and super-bantamweight, had been priming himself to fight in his home city for what might have been the final time.

Earlier in the day, Frampton realised it would no longer serve as an eliminator for the WBC featherweight title for him, after he came in one pound overweight at 9st 1lb. It was also due to come after the six-month lay-off which followed his first professional defeat to another Mexican, Leo Santa Cruz, in Las Vegas.

Frampton has made no secret of his desire to face Santa Cruz for a third time, or to challenge Wales’ IBF champion Lee Selby, so it is even more significant that his trainer Shane McGuigan has said the “finish line” is in sight despite only 24 professional fights.

McGuigan, speaking to the Irish media ahead of the now-cancelled Gutierrez bout, said: “We feel Saturday night is the next chapter in Carl’s career and one I’m excited about, because we can see the finish line now.

“It’s like running a marathon and you can see that 20-mile mark and you’ve got around six miles to go. The legs are a bit heavy but we’re going to finish strong with four or five big wins.”