Making his US debut in El Paso, Texas, the Irish fighter Carl Frampton had a harder nights work than he might have expected.
Defending his IBF super-bantamweight crown against the #11ranked Mexican Alejandro Gonzalez Junior, Frampton took the points verdict but found himself on the canvas twice in the opening round.
Although the judges score-cards, with the points verdict given as;
? 116-108
? 115-109
? 115-109
Frampton knew he?d been in a fight.
The opening and dramatic first round saw Frampton floored by a left hook and after taking a count was then rocked, late in the round, by a straight right hand.
A stiff talk between rounds revived Frampton and some good combinations were troubling his opponent. The referee penalised the challenger for a low blow in the third after having warned the Mexican about his tactic twice previously.
By the middle rounds of the fight, Frampton was dominating his opponent, his defence was a lot better and the Irish fighter was producing the better work.
Gonzalez came back strong in rounds ten and eleven but when the challenger was again deducted a point for low blows in the eleventh, Frampton was home and dry.
Talking to the media after the fight, Frampton had this to say about his challenger,
?I have to give Alejandro Gonzalez so much credit. It’s not the performance I wanted but he can punch, he’s a warrior.
‘I was in shock a bit after the first round as I had never been knocked over before, but I recovered well from the two flash knockdowns.
‘I got the win and delivered plenty of excitement, but I didn’t manage the knockout. Two out of three ain’t bad.’
The win takes Frampton to 21-0 in his professional career but there were doubts expressed afterwards about Frampton remaining at super-bantamweight with the fighter adding,
‘I have to seriously consider whether to stay at this weight or go to featherweight. I had a lot of weight to take off during the last few days before the fight.’
Which, is not the news those that want to see Quigg and Frampton meet in the ring wanted to hear!
Frampton Wins after First Round Scare
