Frampton to make retirement decision after Christmas

Carl Frampton hasn’t ruled out hanging up his gloves after his upset defeat to IBF featherweight world champion Josh Warrington in Manchester on Saturday night.

The 31-year-old went into the fight as favourite, but was ultimately overwhelmed by the relentless and tactically astute work-rate of the champion and suffered just a second career defeat.

After a slow start, ‘The Jackal’ did show flashes of the ability that saw him become Ireland’s second ever two’weight champion, but the Leeds underdog ran out deserved points winner on the BT Sport PPV show.

Prior to the bout, the Belfast fighter, who will go down as one of if not Ireland’s greatest ever, claimed he was only interested mega fights moving forward, but defeat would mean period of rebuilding for Frampton.

Without a title, Frampton would find it harder to tempt the likes of WBO champion Oscar Valdez and former foe Leo Santa Cruz, who has ownership of the WBA featherweight strap, into immediate fights and, having dined at the very top, it remains unsure whether or not the big Belfast draw would be willing to journey back toward big encounters again.

With it being one apiece, Santa Cruz may still be a viable option and certainly remains a fight with enough narrative to entice fans – plus those hoping Frampton will fight on will find consolation in the fact he confessed he had found a real love for the sport again under Jamie Moore.

No decision has been made of yet and Frampton will quite sensibly take time with his family enjoy a rare Christmas off and make a decision on his future.

When asked about retirement post the defeat Frampton said:

“I don’t even want to think about boxing for a while,” he added.

“I just want to go home and see my kids and we’ll see [what the future holds].”

“There’s more important things in the world than boxing and I’ve two young kids who are excited about Christmas and I want to just go home and enjoy it with them.

“I’ll enjoy Christmas and the New Year then I’ll just sit and think about what I’m going to do with the people closest to me and I’ll make a decision pretty soon.”