Photo by Kelvin Boyes
On a night that could have easily turned out to be a nightmare on elm street, tonight’s fight between Carl Frampton and Kiko Martinez swiftly turned into the day of “The Jackal.”
Carl Frampton outpointed the strong Spaniard, Kiko Martinez to win the IBF Super Bantamweight title in front of his loyal supporters in a titanic tussle that did not disappoint.
With a strong breeze ghosting through the Titanic Quarter’s outside arena, the atmosphere was electric, the best I have ever seen, in anticipation for the arrival of The Jackal.
The opening round began with a change from the champion, as he held back on his come-forward pressure style to try and confuse his challenger. Undeterred though Frampton was able to control the distance and won the round with his jab and a few solid right hands.
The fight turned into somewhat of a brawl in the second, with both men exchanging heavy blows. Even though Frampton had the best of it, it was wondered whether the pair could keep up this frantic pace.
The third and fourth were fought at a reduced tempo, with the Belfast native controlling the action as he kept Martinez at a distance with his jab and combinations. Still the Spaniard was able to get through with some strong body shots, and we began to see the stalker in Martinez.
Header photo by Press Association/PA
A flush right from Frampton dropped Martinez to the canvas in the fifth, moments after the champion was cut over the eye, but it seemed more of a flash knockdown. The superior footwork and fast hands from The Jackal gave him the sixth, as Martinez could only follow him around the ring as he landed at will.
In the seventh and eighth, the 29-year-old champion began to mount a serious body attack and irrespective of a few solid jabs and right hands from Frampton, we were maybe looking at a change in the tide.
But the determined Frampton boxed the perfect round in the ninth, boxing beautiful off the ropes and leaving Martinez to chase shadows.
A late surge from the champion saw him gather some momentum but nevertheless, Frampton stemmed the tide and as the final bell sounded, to everyone in attendance, there was only one winner.
With the Belfast crowd going crazy with the chants of “easy, easy” becoming deafening, the judges gave the inevitable result of 119-108, 119-108 and 118-111, giving Frampton that sought after world title he has been chasing for 20 years.
After the fight, Frampton confirmed to the Box Nation cameras that there was only one man he wanted to face next.
“So many options the only man I want to fight is Scott Quigg. I will fight who I have to fight, Quigg’s the man!”
The future seems extremely bright for the new IBF champion with names like Leo Santa Cruz, Scott Quigg and Guillermo Rigondeaux on the horizon.
But tonight, The Jackal brought together a partisan crowd from both sides of the sectarian divide, which lead them to call a halt to their combat for 36 minutes to witness a piece of Irish boxing history which their hometown hero duly delivered.
