Josh Warrington rejects idea of Carl Frampton rematch

Josh Warrington [28(6)-0] claims it’s “job done” in terms of Carl Frampton and has dismissed talk of a rematch.

The IBF featherweight champion of the world defied the odds for a second time in 2018 when he defeated ‘The Jackal’ in a BT Sport PPV headliner three days shy of Christmas.

After the bout, Frampton [26(15)-2(0)] hinted that he may hang up his gloves but has since softened his retirement stance somewhat and has said a rematch with the Leeds fighter could tempt him to fight on.

Indeed, the 31-year-old noted that an accidental leg injury suffered in the first round hampered his chances in the fight.

READ: Frampton reveals Warrington fight injury

However, the champion isn’t keen.

He feels he has ticked the Frampton box and, despite being ordered to defend against Ingle Gym product Kid Galahad, now wants unification clashes.

“I enjoyed the scrap,” Warrington told the Irish News.

“The fans enjoyed it and I’m sure they’d enjoy a second one.”

“But from my point of view it’s a job done, it’s like when Carl boxed Scott Quigg and beat him, he felt like it was time to progress and move forward and I think he said there was no point in going back over old ground.”

Warrington instead wants to move into big fights in America as soon as possible.

The Englishman outlined how “for me, I want to go on and try and win another belt and unify the division.”

“I’ve got other options on the table including a mandatory challenge against Kid Galahad and I’ve got opportunities to fight Oscar Valdez or Leo Santa Cruz.”

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we could all do things differently looking back – fights can go in different ways but I thought I won that fight convincingly enough to say that I want to move forward now.”

Common promoter Frank Warren had spoken of his desire for a rematch and even a trilogy before the fight but has gone silent on this topic despite a competitive contest at the Manchester Arena.

The Queensberry boss, though, has promised to stand by Frampton and the pair are set to have talks soon regarding the Irishman’s future in the sport.

Although he isn’t looking for it be made and hasn’t even got it on his list of options, Warrington suggests if a rematch was made he would win by stoppage.

“I’d be confident I’d beat him again no matter how he fought,” he added.

“I hadn’t even planned to have that kind of fight. It changed at the very last minute but we had other gameplans to go by.”

“Last year was a long year and towards the end of the training camp getting near the fight I could feel myself slowing down a little bit but I still had enough energy to win the fight.”