Frampton reunited in the ring with old amateur rival Joyce
Carl Frampton [23(14)-1(0)] was reunited in the ring with his old amateur rival and long-time friend today.
‘The Jackal’ hosted Rio Olympian Davey Oliver Joyce [1(1)-0] at McGuigan’s Gym in London for eight rounds of sparring.
The pair met four times in the amateurs, with Joyce winning the first three bouts – including a box-off to go to the Beijing Olympic qualifiers – before Frampton won the 2009 National Elite Featherweight title in an epic battle widely viewed as one of the greatest fights to have taken place in the National Stadium in recent years.
Frampton turned pro soon afterwards, and would use the extremely pro-styled Joyce as a sparring partner in the early stages of his pro career.
The Belfast man would go on to become a two-weight world champion, while triple EU gold medalist Joyce fulfilled his dream and qualified for the Olympics last year in Rio, reaching the last 16.
Lightweight Joyce has now joined Frampton in the pros, linking up with MTK and being trained by Pete Taylor. The Mullingar man debuted in Belfast last month with a second round stoppage of Gabor Kovacs.
Frampton is currently preparing for his Belfast homecoming fight after over two and a half years on the road. Here at the SSE Odyssey Arena on July 29th, the Tigers Bay feather will take on Mexican Andres Gutierrez in a WBC title eliminator. Joyce is back in the ring one week earlier on July 22nd. He boxes at the Brentwood Centre on an MTK London card against a to-be-confirmed opponent.
