Unfinished Business for Carl Frampton who puts retirement on hold

Carl Frampton [26(15)-2(0)] admits his decision to retire was made in the heat of a bad moment and thus too hasty.

Within minutes of defeat to IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington, the Belfast fighter had internally called it day.

However, with more time to reflect and having discussed his future with his family, friends, and team he is leaning toward carrying on.

In recent weeks, ‘The Jackal’ has claimed he still believes he has what it takes to operate at the highest level and has suggested he would continue if promoter Frank Warren can guarantee world title fights.

The former two-weight world champion admits that he doesn’t feel right going out on such a note – i.e. a loss which came, he feels, in part, through underperformance.

Explaining his decision to ‘retire’ after the December 22nd reverse Frampton told the BBC “as soon as the final bell went, I knew I had lost. At that point in my head, I felt like I was a retired fighter and I didn’t want to fight any more.

“I was annoyed and upset. I spoke to my family and I think I even told my kids that I was going to stay at home from now on but things have changed and I just realised that I wouldn’t like to finish and go out on a fight like that.”

With time having past and some perspective added, the 31-year-old has began to accept the defeat and knows he hasn’t become a bad fighter overnight.

Frampton believes he still has big nights and big performances left in him.

A clash with WBO champion Oscar Valdez is being heavily mooted and Frampton can foresee big nights in the near-immediate future.

The Ulsterman outlined how “people can have bad nights but it’s a bit different in boxing because it’s now like football where you can put it right the following week.”

“I’m still a big name in the division. You look at Amir Khan, who’s been knocked out in his career and he’s just walked into a big fight with Terence Crawford. I have big fights there for me, winnable fights, and I genuinely believe I can be a world champion again.”