Carl Frampton Batters, Stops Chris Avalos in Five
February 28, 2015Terence Crawford vs Thomas Dulorme set for April 18 in Texas
March 1, 2015
Carl Frampton did his job today, stopping Chris Avalos in five rounds, and met up in-ring with Scott Quigg after the contest.
Carl Frampton stayed unbeaten and retained his IBF super bantamweight title today in Belfast, stopping Chris Avalos in the fifth round when the referee called a stop to the fight at 1:33 with Frampton hammering away at a hurt and prone challenger.
Avalos, after talking trash during the referee’s instructions at center ring, was sternly warned in the opening round for twice hitting Frampton on the break, a couple of clearly illegal blows. But Frampton kept his head nicely, too, never letting Avalos get under his skin, and just kept working away.
Frampton’s accuracy and footwork were his big advantages early, as Avalos missed a lot of wild left hooks, and Frampton worked behind a jab, adding a great right hand that stuck Avalos repeatedly. In the second round, Avalos was caught unaware while fiddling with a tweaked shoulder, Frampton jumping in and hitting him with a left hook, as the referee had not stopped the action.
The third and fourth rounds were more of the same from the first two, Frampton landing consistently and bossing the action, but Avalos in there and fighting back, willing to take shots. Avalos did land a strong left uppercut in the fourth, but he still couldn’t find any serious rhythm.
The fifth round saw Frampton step on the gas and take Avalos apart, landing big shots that hurt Avalos early in the frame. Though the durable American didn’t go down, referee Howard John Foster stepped in with Frampton pouring on the pressure, calling an end to the fight, with no real arguments. Frampton had just landed a blistering right hand, and there wasn’t much left for Avalos to do but get knocked clean out. He was taking a furious beating, and quite bravely, but the referee made the right call to end the fight.
For Frampton (20-0, 14 KO), this is another strong statement, a big win in his first defense of the IBF super bantamweight title. In front of a raucous home crowd, he looked every bit the star that the fans paid to see, physically — and seemingly mentally — dominating a fine opponent, a guy who definitely came to fight and wasn’t going to be an easy out. Though it’s the third loss for Avalos (25-3, 19 KO), it’s by far the most convincing.
“Unbelievable atmosphere as always in here. It felt great in there tonight. I felt absolutely amazing, and to be honest, it was pretty easy. Very easy. I knew after the first round I had him,” Frampton said. “He was slow, very slow. I think I hurt him with a right hand, wobbled him. I hit him with a few shots. He’s a tough guy, you have to give him credit. Tough guy.”
Frampton said of the venue and fans, “The Odyssey is like my home. This is, like, four or five fights in here. I knock people out when I come here.”
“This is the best super bantamweight in the world. There are aficionados out there who think Rigondeaux is,” said Hall of Fame fighter and Frampton promoter Barry McGuigan. “(Frampton) is the best in the world. He’s the best fighter in the world, and guess what? We aim to prove it. He done it in third gear with this guy. This guys does 15 rounds in the gym with three different sparring partners, three weight divisions in front of him. This guy is a sensational fighter.”
Frampton and McGuigan were joined in the ring after the fight by Scott Quigg (30-0-2, 22 KO), the holder of the “regular” version of the WBA super bantamweight title. The two fighters and McGuigan discussed a potential fight, where it would be held, and so on, but neither side committed to making it happen or anything like that. It was a nice photo op, but little more, though it will hopefully get the sides talking about putting that together. It’s an overdue fight between a couple of very good fighters, one that should draw a good audience anywhere it’s held in the UK.
