In Belfast last night, at the Odyssey Arena, Carl Frampton produced a dramatic display to beat the Californian challenger Chris Avalos.
In a mandatory defence of his IBF super-bantamweight title, Frampton showed that his stature as a world champion has improved his boxing as, under the guidance of his mentor, Barry McGuigan, he looks to unify the division.
Pre-fight, Avalos was full of brash talk but once the atmosphere got under away in an atmosphere unrivalled by anything elsewhere, Frampton was to prove he was he man.
The early exchanges were close but Frampton appeared o shade them, although the challenger was getting through with some punches.
In round two Avalos appeared to injure his shoulder an inexplicably turned his back on the action letting Frampton launch a hurtful attack.
Round three saw Frampton start to get on top and Avalos was caught with several hard hitting left-hooks, suddenly the crispness in the challengers work was starting to disappear.
The fourth round saw Avalos launch an attack that pushed Frampton back with a couple of right hands doing the damage.
However, the fifth round was to prove to be the decisive round, with Frampton catching Avalos with a right hook that rocked him. Frampton sensed his opponent was in trouble and forced Avalos to retreat, catching him with punch after punch. With Avalos looking troubled, the referee, Howard Foster, stepped in to stop the contest.
The Odyssey Arena rose to acclaim their man as he continues to march, undefeated, towards greatness.
Frampton Out-Classes Avalos
