Carl Frampton hoping to see an ‘exhausted’ Tyrone McKenna after Golden Contract final

Carl Frampton wants to see Tyrone McKenna’s hand raised in London this coming Wednesday, but wants his fellow Belfast fighter to be too tired to raise it himself.

‘The Mighty Celt’ settles his long running grudge with Ohara Davies [21(16)2(1)] at Production Park Studios in Wakefield, as the pair meet in an eagerly anticipated light welterweight Golden Contract decider.

Former two weight world champion, Frampton is hoping to see an exhausted McKenna [21(6)-1(0)-1] come the final bell, not because he wants to see the southpaw defeated, rather he believes for the Pete Taylor trained fighter to emerge victorious, he will have to go through a mentally draining 12 rounds.

‘The Jackal’, like McKenna’s coach Taylor, is keen for the finalist to use guile over guts and box his way to victory. Produce a disciplined 12 rounds and the 28-year-old entertainer will secure victory, a lucrative contract with a promoter rumoured to be Top Rank, earn bragging rights and be physically and mentally drained.

“I want to see Tyrone box his way to victory over Davies,” Frampton said in his popular Sunday Life column.

“By the end of his fight with Ohara Davies on Wednesday night, I hope that Tyrone McKenna is completely exhausted because if he is then he will have been a clear winner in their grudge match.”

“It may sound strange but the easy option in boxing is to stand and have a war with someone. It’s a lazier mentality than having the mindset of being prepared to carry out a clinical game plan – boxing from range, using your feet and just basically being smart from start to finish. That requires a lot more effort.”

The three weight world title hopeful explains he was most tired posted his disciplined victory IBF super bantamweight world title win over Kiko Martinez. Indeed he reveals that box and move approach was more taxing than the all action clashed he had against Leo Santa Cruz and more recently Josh Warrington.

“I can testify to that being the case because the fight that took the most out of me was not either of the two battles with Leo Santa Cruz or my loss to Josh Warrington but the world title victory over Kiko Martinez six years ago at Titanic. It was arguably my most disciplined performance, I was on it from start to finish and I remember sitting on the canvas post-fight doing the TV interview thinking, ‘I just want to get to my bed’. I was done.”