CARL FRAMPTON did not dazzle on his American debut. He had unexpectedly trying afternoonโs work with Alejandro Gonzalez but carved out a points victory in what was ultimately an exciting fight.
Frampton was coming off the back of two excellent performances in the cauldron-like atmosphere of his Belfast hometown, most recently against Chris Avalos. โWe want someone to get him switched on but it takes a special fighter to get him switched on,โ his trainer Shane McGuigan said. โI thought Avalos was a perfect performance. You canโt pick holes in that. It was exactly what was needed for that night. One of the things we found was Avalos was slow. [Carl] finds them easier to hit because they train at a slightly slow intensity. They might do longer rounds and longer hours but they donโt have the gears to go through.โ
McGuigan explains the key elements to Framptonโs success, โHeโs got very good distance control and heโs extremely explosive, heโs got good feet and feet are I think what speeds everything up and make people fall short. Good fighters theyโve got that, they can creep back and they can make you miss by a little bit and then they can come in with their shots. Domestic level fighters make you miss but they try and throw slightly too far back out and they miss the next phase. Thatโs what having a good amateur pedigree and having good schooling can do for you. What I find with a lot of good amateurs making the adjustment into the pros, they completely forget all their schooling.
โWith the small gloves on, you donโt have to hit guys hard. All you have to do is make them miss and chip away and the next thing you know youโve busted them up. As long as you hit them with half decent power and youโre hitting them clean, then theyโll go. Thatโs one of our theories. We donโt go loading up, take your time and when the level of opposition steps up, especially for prospects, theyโll show their real class because they get quality sparring in the gym.โ
โEvery time Avalos went to open up he just hit him with three or four punches,โ he noted. โHeโs so quick, he lets guys start and he throws with them and thatโs when theyโre most vulnerable.
โTop quality amateurs they can do that. Theyโve just got that edge. Having that amateur background is just key. Itโs so key. Because slipping and sliding and staying in the pocket and rolling and blocking, itโs easy to teach. But itโs not easy to teach ‘when he opens up, throw with him’ because it takes belief to do that, schooling and sparring at a top level to do that. Thatโs why we always look at quality amateurs because theyโve got that background, itโll be easier to teach the rest of it. Carl had it, Conrad [Cummings] had it, Anto [Cacace] had it, Josh Taylorโs got it. The only person that didnโt is Josh Pritchard but heโs only 20. Whereas Carl is a world champion in 19 fights, Josh Pritchard will be more like Scott Quigg, where heโll have to have 25, 30 fights before he gets on to the world stage. Heโll get there.โ
Frampton tends to do long camps, between 13 and 14 weeks of training for his last fight and he started sparring eight to 10 weeks out from the fight. โHe does six rounds, six rounds, six, rounds, then itโs seven, seven, seven, eight, eight, eight, then heโs does two weeks of eights, then heโll go to nines, then go to 10s, about three weeks out heโll do 10 on a Monday, 12 on a Wednesday, then 10 on a Friday, then eight on a Monday, six, six and thatโll be his sparring, so it keeps it up and then we drop it back down. He does two sixes and then heโll finish his last spar on the Friday a week before the weigh in. It means youโre easing the body into taking punishment,โ Shane said.
There are exciting fights out there for Frampton, Scott Quigg being one of the most appealing. โI still have hope that itโs going to get made. I think it will. I think itโll be a shame for it not to get made,โ McGuigan said. โI think heโs a really good fighter, I actually do. But I just think he can easily be outboxed and it wonโt take a Sugar Ray Leonard to outbox him.โ
He considers Nonito Donaire a dangerous choice for Framptonโs rival, if that is next. โHeโs past it but he still can punch, heโs a really hard puncher. You donโt lose that. [Guillermo] Rigondeaux, I canโt see Quigg getting close to him, where I can see Frampton definitely getting close to him and giving him a really hard fight. Quigg-Santa Cruz, that would be a tough fight but I think Quigg can beat [Leo] Santa Cruz. But that fight wonโt happen at all,โ Shane said. โCarl wants to fight Rigondeaux but heโs not going to fight Rigondeaux for nothing and thatโs just the way it is. It doesnโt make any business sense and if youโre going to fight a guy like Rigondeaux, you want to get paid. If we can do that later on, thatโll be ideal.
โWeโve got so many options, weโve got Santa Cruz, weโve got Abner Mares, weโve got Gary Russell Jnr.โ