Brain injury risk a factor in Carl Frampton training adjustment
Belfast featherweight Carl Frampton [23(14)-1(0)] has quite a different training regime under new coach Jamie Moore.
The Salford trainer has replaced Shane McGuigan as the main man in ‘The Jackal’s’ corner going forward and the pair have their first fight together next month.
While Moore has pledged not to change Frampton’s style, the way the Ulsterman prepares for fights will be a lot different going forward.
Moore believes that Frampton was overtrained in recent fights and was “fighting tired.”
With that in mind, the intensity of the 30 year old’s training was cut, with Frampton noting last month that his sparring has been cut in half.
Originally Frampton described how this was to prevent niggling injuries which he had been suffering – however he has now revealed that there was another motive to this move.
The Tiger’s Bay family man acknowledges the risks that boxing brings, and wants to minimise his chances of brain injuries.
“I’ve got two kids and a missus. I don’t want problems after boxing. You need to be careful,” he told BBC Sport.
“You have heavy gloves and a head-guard on but if you talk to any other boxer about the amount of rounds they spar there is nobody getting close. Most do maybe 100 or 120 for a 12-round fight and I was doing 220. It was a lot.
“You’re just taking punishment every day, getting hit all the time. That’s something we’re going to cut back on. I’ll train hard but the sparring will be cut in half.”
Frampton is just over five weeks out from his return to the ring against Horacio Garcia at the SSE Odyssey Arena in Belfast on Saturday November 18th.
He is training in Manchester under Moore at the VIP Gym in Astley alongside old McGuigan’s Gym and Cyclone team mate Conrad Cummings – who has also made the switch.
‘The Jackal’ tops the ‘Frampton Reborn’ bill which also features Jamie Conlan’s IBF super flyweight world title challenge against Jerwin Ancajas, WBO bantamweight champion Zolani Tete, a rematch between Jono Carroll and Declan Geraghty, and appearances from Paddy Barnes, Lewis Crocker, Steven Ward, Davey Oliver Joyce, and Gary Cully.