BELFAST star and former world champion Carl Frampton could be starting the final phase of his career when he boxes Andres Gutierrez on July 29 at the Odyssey Arena.
At just 30 years old, Frampton is a young man, but in boxing terms he can see retirement on a not-too-distant horizon. He is turning his attention to his final fighting years and how he will be remembered. His achievements are remarkable, a unified super-bantamweight champion, he won his first world crown in a purpose built outdoor stadium in his hometown and beat great rival Scott Quigg in Manchester. He became a two-weight titlist after beating Leo Santa Cruz on a thrilling night in New York and was the 2016 Fighter of the Year. But after losing their rematch in Las Vegas in January, Carl has more to give.
However the countdown to the end is beginning. โThis fight coming up, one more before the end of the year, if I get three in next year, that could be it. If you got the Santa Cruz fight, imagine finishing on a high, going and beating Santa Cruz in the trilogy. Drop the mic kind of fight and Iโm off. Who knows? Who knows how itโll pan out,โ he told Boxing News. โItโs getting harder. I enjoy the big nights and I enjoy fight week in the build up. I donโt think Iโve ever really enjoyed training. I do it because Iโm good at it. And it is getting harder. Iโm looking forward to the day when I can retire. Until that comes Iโm going to give it my all. And itโs probably a couple of years. Two years. In the grand scheme of things over a lifetime, to be happily retired, maybe 32, 33, hopefully have a little bit of dough in the bank, itโs not bad.
โIโd rather be doing this than working nine to five in an officeโฆโ
He suffered the first loss of his professional career this year, in fact his first defeat since a distant 3-2 amateur loss to a Russian at a tournament in the Czech Republic in 2009. It hurt him. But he has taken in the experience and now plans to recover his form against Gutierrez next.
โI was in Vegas, my kids werenโt there, when I got home and saw my kids, you put things into perspective. Boxing isnโt my life. My two kids and my wife are. Boxing is a very important part of it but there are a lot more important things than boxing. I feel like thereโs still more to come but in a way I feel like Iโve overachieved too. I dreamed of becoming a world champion when I turned professional. Iโve done that. That was success. But to unify the division and to win the world title against a great fighter like Santa Cruz in a second weight division, I never thought I would have done that at the start of my career. Iโve got more to give in this weight division and potentially move up to super-featherweight,โ he said. โAt some point Iโd like to tackle super-featherweight.โ
But he added, โI donโt want to disrespect Gutierrez, itโs a tough fight. Heโs the only one Iโm thinking of at the minute realistically.
โFor him it puts him on the world stage, itโs a big chance for him. But weโll see. Even if he puts in a good performance, it raises the bar for him.
โThereโs a lot at stake for both of us. Probably more so for me because if I slip up, itโs hard to say where we go from there.โ
A second defeat would be a disaster. โI havenโt a clue [what he’d do if he lost] and Iโm not even thinking about it. Iโm really confident for this fight but Iโm not taking anything for granted. Iโve trained hard, Iโve done the graft in the gym and Iโll be ready on the night,โ he promised.
For a big interview and full fight preview don’t miss next week’s issue of Boxing News magazine