Carl Frampton – Fights to Watch
Carl Frampton should be getting ready to pack his bags and head over to Manchester to begin preparations for a history-making title challenge. Instead, the 32Red ambassador is at home with his family waiting for the Coronavirus pandemic to pass and for life to regain a semblance of normality.
Frampton will still challenge Jamel Herring for the WBO Super Featherweight title but the fight is looking is looking less and less likely to take place in June as originally intended. However, having waited so long to acclaim their first three weight world champion, Irish boxing fans won’t mind waiting an extra few months for the chance to push Frampton on towards a truly special achievement. When the fight does take place, it promises to be a memorable occasion.
Carl took a break from his temporary role as a home school classroom assistant to pick out three classic fights that he feels you should watch whilst we wait for the boxing action to get under way again. The list includes fights which matter to him, ones which influenced him and those that he just enjoys watching.
Jamie Moore v Matthew Macklin
British Light Middleweight title, September 2006
An amazing fight. Moore had won the British title outright and was far more experienced while Macklin was younger but probably the favourite. He started off very fast and Moore rode the storm. He did a lot of very good defensive stuff off the ropes as a southpaw. Macklin threw a lot and put a lot into what he was throwing but Moore made him miss and hit arms and shoulders a lot which can be frustrating for a fighter who is trying to apply so much pressure.
An amazing fight to watch and not just one of the best British fights you’ll see but one of the best fights you’ll see anywhere. Round nine in particular is one of the best rounds you will ever see and eventually Jamie won it with a brutal knockout. I think it’s a fight that will live long in the memories of a lot of people and I think that it’s also a fight Macklin learned a lot from. He was just a kid but he showed so much bottle in that fight and he went on and did so much in his career.
Joe Calzaghe v Jeff Lacey
WBO and IBF Super Middleweight titles, March 2006
This was an absolute masterclass and a fight that I don’t think too many people would have picked Calzaghe to win. Lacey was described as a super middleweight version of Mike Tyson – a young bull from America coming over to spark Calzaghe out in the first half of the fight. He hardly hit Joe.
An absolute masterclass if ever I’ve seen one, especially in a fight that was supposed to go the other way and in a big way. We talk about Tyson Fury beating Deontay Wilder as a dominating performance against an American fighter, but for me, Calzaghe v Lacey was the most dominating performance from a Brit versus an American.
Dwight Muhammad Qawi v Evander Holyfield
WBA Cruiserweight title, July 1986
These two fought twice but the first one was an amazing fight. It was Holyfield’s twelfth fight so it was very early on in his career and he hadn’t really fought anybody but he was an Olympian and there were a lot of high hopes for him. It was a 15 found fight and it was a complete war of attrition from both men. Qawi – he was 5ft 6in – was a cruiserweight version of Joe Frazier. A hard little man and tough as nails. A real quality fighter too. It’s a fight I like a lot because although it was really competitive, it was highly skilled too. Holyfield is one of my favourite fighters and to be able to fight as hard as he did for 15 rounds was insane. Qawi was never quite the same after this first fight with Holyfield.
I want to give an honourable mention to the fight between Tommy Coyle and Daniel Brizuela. I think there were about 45 knockdowns in that one. After watching all of those, and if you need something to fall asleep to, you can stick me v Scott Quigg on.
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