New champ Frampton out to unify world titles

Carl Frampton insisted his world-title win is merely the first step on a long road to glory after claiming the IBF super-bantamweight championship crown in Belfast on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old took the title after a testing 12 rounds against Spaniard Kiko Martinez, picking up a unanimous decision on points having delivered an impressive display of graceful boxing, utilising his jab, footwork and movement to take control. Despite his impressive achievement in winning the word crown in only his 19th fight, the undefeated Frampton said: “It was the first goal, to become a world champion, so I’ve reached that.

“Now I’ve got to start making new goals — unifying divisions, defending the title,” added the new champion, who delighted his home crowd at a purpose-built 16,000-seater stadium at the site of the Titanic Quarter.

“What a night. It hasn’t sunk in yet. My head’s still really sore, my hands are sore. He is a tough fight, but I’m world champion now. It’s been a long time coming so I’m very proud and very, very happy.”

To the naked eye, the made-to-measure stadium appeared smaller in capacity than the publicised capacity but Belfast turned out in huge numbers to cheer on their hometown hero.

It did seem at times, however, that anxiety had gripped the crowd as an aggressive Martinez always appeared capable ofcausing an upset against the 2/9 favourite.

“You have to dig deep in certain fights,” said Frampton, who admitted the bout was the toughest of his career. “There’s not many fighters around the lower weights like Kiko, who are so aggressive and so heavy handed.

“After me, he’s probably the hardest-punching super-bantamweight around. I learned that I’ve got a very big heart. I had to dig deep. I stuck to a game plan, that’s the main thing.”

That game plan turned out to be quite similar to that employed by Frampton during his first meeting with Martinez in February of last year, when the Belfast native scored a ninth-round knockout win.

In that bout, Frampton boxed off the back foot, peppering a pursuing Martinez with shots before clinically dispatching the then-European champion.

In this rematch — with Martinez having subsequently claimed the world title after reviving his career — Frampton adopted the same tactics but was also lured into trading blows with his opponent at times. Frampton weathered any storms on a chilly night at the open-air stadium, however, and scored a fifth-round knockdown when dropping Martinez with a right-hand counter, the challenger’s smooth footwork allowing him to step back, feint and then find the target.

Martinez had threatened early in that round, forcing Frampton to the canvas in what was ruled a slip by referee Steve Gray after a messy clash, with the champion avoiding a points deduction despite attempting to hit his opponent on the ground. After the knockdown, Frampton dominated the sixth before taking his foot off the gas in the seventh and Martinez bounced back in the eighth and ninth rounds, steaming forward and pummelling Frampton to the body.

“It was the same as the first fight, I was winning the rounds — I knocked him out in the ninth round (first time) but all the rounds were competitive and it was the same here. He was pushing hard the whole way. There’s words that get overused in boxing, such as ‘warrior’, but he genuinely is a warrior,” said Frampton, who resumed control in the championship rounds and seemed on the verge of claiming a stoppage win in the 12th.

The champion survived anonslaught on the ropes, however, launching wild hooks late on in a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to retain his title. Two judges called it 119-108 to Frampton, with the third scoring it 118-111. McGuigan praises ’exceptional’ Frampton

Admitting he was tempted to finally tell the naysayers “I told you so” and, in a less polite fashion, what to do with themselves, Barry McGuigancontended himself by taking satisfaction in seeing his prediction come true. Since heconvinced Carl Frampton to turn pro under his tutelage five years ago, he has consistently praised his super-bantamweight protégé.

“I said a long time ago this guy was going to be the world champion and people laughed at me,” said McGuigan after seeing Frampton claim a unanimous points decision over Kiko Martinez to take the IBF world title.

“When you’ve got a guy going out to bat for you like Frampton, you know you’ve got a good chance and he’s an exceptional kid,” he added.

Head trainer Shane McGuigan, son of former world champion Barry, hailed the performance as a masterclass. “For Kiko Martinez, that’s the best performance we could have ever done.”