LETTING his fighting heart rule his head cost Carl Frampton the chance to retire as world champion says his former coach Jamie Moore.
The gameplan went out the window when Frampton fought Josh Warrington for the IBF featherweight title in Manchester in December 2018. Leeds’ native Warrington (who lost the title last year to Luis Lopez who defends against Michael Conlan on May 27) jumped on Frampton as soon as the first bell rang and the Belfast man was drawn into a firefight over the first two hammer-and-tongs rounds.
“I honestly believe that if he’d have stuck to the tactics and not let his heart rule his head he would have won that fight,” said Moore.
“When he got caught early I think he thought: ‘I’m gonna show you’ and that landed him in worse trouble. If he had used his feet and got himself out of that situation and let himself recover he’d have been fine.
“The first couple of rounds lost him that fight and if he’d won that fight then he could have retired as world champion. At the end of the second round I got him in the corner and said: ‘If you want to lose this fight then keep doing what you’re doing, if you want to win it then f**king listen to what I’m saying to you.
“Fair play to him, from the third round onwards he really switched on but he’d given himself a mountain to climb by that point.
“But hindsight’s a great thing isn’t it? He had a great career and he’s such a good guy, we’re still in touch every couple of weeks.”
