Carl Frampton had one of his finer performances in his last couple of fights, getting him some much needed momentum for a potential British superfight against Josh Warrington.
Frampton, headlining a boxing card at Windsor Park in his hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, retained his interim WBO featherweight title against previously unbeaten Australian Luke Jackson. Frampton won the fight with a stoppage in the ninth round, his first fight to not go the distance since 2015.
The gameplan for Frampton was a simple one: repeatedly attack the body to wear down Jackson and start increasing the pace of his punches thrown as the fight progressed. Frampton started by landing short combinations to the body, but Jackson manage to fend off Frampton’s punches early on.
Jackson did have moments where he let his hands go, but Frampton was able to maneuver his way out of danger. Although Frampton had been winning virtually every round, Frampton did appear frustrated at times that he was not able to put away Jackson early on in the fight.
Frampton would get more aggressive with his punches starting in the fifth round and it eventually resulted in Frampton knocking down Jackson late in the eighth round with a body shot. With Frampton’s body shots taking its toll on Jackson, the Australian’s corner threw in the towel in the ninth round after Frampton hurt his opponent a flurry of body shots.
After the win, the idea of a potential fight against Warrington, IBF featherweight champion, later this year. Both fighters are promoted by Frank Warren and it’s been a fight that has been discussed for some time. With WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez still recovering from a broken jaw, Frampton could fight Warrington and attempt to become a three-time world champion.
This was Frampton’s first interim WBO title defense as he had previously won the title back in April in another main event fight in Belfast. In that fight, Frampton defeated former world champion Nonito Donaire by unanimous decision to win the title.
