IBF World Featherweight Champion Josh Warrington Proves He’s One Of The Best In Boxing With An Exciting And Gutsy Unanimous Decision Victory Over Carl Frampton!

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By Joshua “City” Brewer

It was one of the most anticipated fights of the year and took place across the pond on Saturday, December 22, 2018, at the Manchester Arena. Defending IBF world featherweight champion Josh Warrington, 28-0, 6 KO’s, put his title on the line against Carl “The Jackal” Frampton, 26-2, 15 KO’s.

Round one started off with both fighters bringing it to the highest degree. Frampton started with a set of combinations that made Warrington get aggressive as he was able to catch Frampton with a hook that staggered him back. Warrington pounced in and Frampton himself was able to catch Warrington with a number of snapping shots in an exciting first couple of minutes. Both fighters seemed to have earned each other’s respect early in the first.

Both fighters were tense to start the second. Much of the posturing took place in the center of the ring. Frampton was able to get in a short left hook midway through and followed that up with a left and right combo that landed clean. Near the minute mark, Warrington again started to go in with a number of hard shots from the pocket and actually again seemed to stagger Frampton who himself chose to fight fire with fire. Warrington’s swarming style seemed to bother Frampton during the tail end of the the round in what had been a very exciting fight to this point.

Warrington used his jab from the outside to control the pace of the early part of round three. Frampton was able to catch Warrington to with a nice right hook over the top thereafter. Near the midway point, Warrington again planted his feet and started to throw a number of hooks and uppercuts though at a slower pace than the incidents in the previous rounds. Fairly even round overall.

The fourth round saw both fighters continue to slow the pace in the early part of the round. Both were able to get in single, solid hooks midway through as they continued to battle for position. Frampton saw some success countering Warrington as the round wore on. Warrington was able to catch Frampton with a nice left hook on the inside as the two fighters exchanged blows at the tail end of the round.

Warrington was able to get in a number of combinations in the middle of the ring during the fifth round as he looked to keep his volume of punches and pace at a higher rate than Frampton. Frampton continued to try and time Warrington with his own hooks to include countering him coming in. Warrington got off some good body work on Frampton near the 35-second mark as he continued to through at a higher pace to finish out rounds.

In the sixth, Frampton was focused on keeping Warrington at bay with his lead hooks and straights, fighting behind the jab. The pace was slower than the previous round but Warrington continued to press forward looking to tee off. Frampton caught Warrington with a solid right hook to the body midway through the round. As we got to the latter part of the round, Warrington was able to get Frampton backed into the ropes as he threw a number of hooks and uppercuts to both the head and body, the body shots seeming to really get Frampton’s attention. Midway through it was clear that this would be a battle of attrition with the second half of the fight having many implications.

Frampton led behind the jab to start the seventh as he was able to mix the range to both the head and body, though in low numbers. Warrington was continuing to fight on the front foot but missed a number of shots early. Frampton was able to land a number of solid left and right hoods to the body in the latter part of the round as the two fighters held their ground in the middle of the ring. There was a temporary stop as the two fighters clashed heads, though no serious damage was done. Warrington, though, continued to throw back but Frampton controlled the round.

Frampton started the eight with a solid right hook to the body. The two fighters again found themselves exchanging hooks and uppercuts to the body in the middle of the ring, each finding success. The pace increased a bit by comparison to previous rounds as each fighter went back and forth looking to land hard shorts. They essentially traded exchanges back and forth, heavy hooks to the head, as they knew the importance of the ensuing rounds. Frampton was able to land two solid straight rights to end the round on the higher note.

In the ninth, Frampton again seemed to control the early tempo getting in a nice right over the top. Warrington was able to get in a nice jab to right straight to follow. In the latter part of the round, the two fighters saw each other again exchanging combinations back and forth with each looking to continue to work the body. Frampton was able to land several solid hooks near the 10-second mark but Warrington bounced back to close the round with a number of cleanly landing body punches of his own.

Frampton started the night with a right hook followed by a left hook to the head on Warrington. Warrington continued to seem fairly fresh and was able to catch Frampton with a combination of shots to the head and body midway through. This led to a set that sent Frampton to the ropes though he wasn’t hurt. Near the minute mark, both fighters again planted their feet in the middle of the ring. Warrington would get off hooks to the body, some moving upstarts, as the torch was then passed to Frampton to get off a number of body shots of his own as he too mixed in hooks to the head as well. Close action throughout.

At the start of the championship rounds, 11 to be exact, Frampton used his jab to set up him throwing right hooks to the body, though in single shots. Frampton was able to successfully counter Warrington as Warrington tried to come in midway through. Frampton was able to get in a solid straight right near the minute mark and continued to counter Warrington thereafter as Warrington looked to pounce in and get off inside combinations as in previous rounds. The two momentarily found themselves trading exchanges near the end of the round though Frampton seemed to be the more controlled fighter.

In the 12th and final round, the two fighters seemed to be poised for something special. They each looked energized early on as each exchanged single hooks and straights before clashing heads once again, which brought a momentary stop to the action. Frampton was able to find success with his right before getting caught with a solid hook that sparked a number of punches from Warrington though nothing landed cleanly. Frampton was able to get back to getting in uppercuts to the body near the minute mark but Warrington continued to find the mustard to throw his own shots back as he dug into the body himself. Excellent close to a gutsy performance from each fighter. In my eyes at this particular time, it seemed as though Josh Warrington had done enough to win.

Officially, the fight went down as a unanimous decision victory for Josh Warrington with scores of 116-113 and 116-112 twice. Warrington looked very good in the fight and showed that he is one of the best fighters in and around the featherweight division. Unification fights could be in his sight and he has the warrior mentality to give every other champion problems. We’ll be watching so join us as RSR follows the action in 2019.

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