By Terence Dooley

Former two-weight world titlist Carl Frampton, 23-1 (14 KOs) recently split with long-time mentor and promoter Barry McGuigan as well as announcing that Salford’s Jamie Moore will replace previous trainer Shane McGuigan.

The Belfast-based boxer partially unified the Super bantamweight division under McGuigan's watch as well as adding the WBA Super World featherweight title to their trophy cabinet by beating Leo Santa Cruz by majority decision last year.

However, Cruz flipped the script on Frampton by winning the title back via the same result in January.  A July comeback fight against Andres Gutierrez in Belfast was axed after the Mexican slipped in the shower and withdrew from the contest.  To add insult to injury, Frampton had failed to make weight for the showdown.

“The Jackal” has signed an advisory with MTK Global and announced Frank Warren as his new promoter, he meets Horacio Garcia at the SSE Arena, Belfast on November 18 as he bids to grab a W and draw a line under what has been a hard year for him.

“This has been the worst year of my professional career and it came after the best year of my professional career,” he said when speaking to BoxingScene.  “It started badly with the loss to Santa Cruz then got worse.”

The move also means that his next fight will be shown live on BT Sports, who told the 30-year-old that they hope he will become an even bigger star under their banner. 

“When deciding to move over to Frank my mind was made up by the fact that BT Sport have said that they will look after me,” he confirmed.  “Going it alone wasn’t easy, but it was the right thing to do.”

His decision to join Moore was prompted by a recommendation from his father, who told Frampton that he liked what he has seen from the trainer when watching him work.  His mind was made up after spending a week with the former British, Commonwealth and European light-middleweight champion.

“Jamie had his own ideas about how I should be trained at this point in my career, I agreed with them and we decided to go for it,” he said.

“Carl had not considered me until his dad told him that he liked the way I was in the corner,” added Moore.  “He came over to see how he’d fit in, we worked well together so he said: ‘Let’s do it’.”

With a new team in place, and the promise of a Windsor Park showcase event down the line, Frampton will now turn his attention to ensuring that he makes the most out of the rest of his career and has vowed to make amends for the cancellation of the Gutierrez fight.

“I owe the next one to them (his fans),” he declared.  “Boxing fans are going to see a new and improved Carl Frampton.  Hearing your name read out as a world champion is the name of this game—I want to hear those words again.”

Moore concurs with Frampton’s aim, telling me that he believes he can help his new charge maximise the time he has left in the sport, saying:  “Carl is a phenomenal talent so it is easy to work with someone with that ability—I just want to sharpen his tools.”

He added: “Carl’s going to stay at featherweight, he’s still fresh and can perform at the top level.  I’m looking forward to helping him do that.”

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