Carl Frampton vs. Horacio Garcia – Results

By Boxing News - 11/18/2017 - Comments

By Juan Flores: In a controversial outcome, former 2 division world champion Carl “The Jackal” Frampton (24-1 14 KOs) defeated a very brave and talented Horacio Garcia (33-4-1, 24 KOs) by a controversial 10 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Frampton was dropped with a left hook in round 7. He tried to say it was a slip, but it was a clear knockdown. Frampton was hit cleanly by a left hook that blasted off his feet. It was disappointing to see Frampton trying to get out of the knockdown.

The 3 judges, who all come from the UK, scored the fight for Frampton by the scores 98-93, 97-93 and 98-93. Boxing News 24 scored the fight for Garcia 95-94. The scoring from the judges was much wider than the fight that took place tonight. For the judges to score the fight the way they did, it meant that they were giving rounds to Frampton in which he was getting worked over by Garcia.

Frampton appeared to lose rounds 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Round 10 was a close one that could have gone either way, as Frampton did a lot of running and holding in the round. The punches that Frampton did land in the 10th, were the weak variety and nowhere near as hard as the ones that Garcia was connecting with.

It’s not all that surprising that Garcia lost a questionable decision. Garcia came into the fight a huge underdog, and it was pretty clear that he was going to need a knockout for him to have a chance of beating Frampton in his own hometown.

Garcia repeatedly trapped Frampton against the ropes and worked him over with body shots starting from round 4. Frampton looked like he had no choice but to go to the ropes, as he kept getting backed up to that area of the ring by the bigger Garcia.

Frampton’s ring rust showed itself in a huge way in the fight, as he was only effective in the first 3 rounds. After round 3, it was pretty much all Garcia. Despite being just 2 years difference in the age, the younger 27-year-old Garcia looked much younger than the 29-year-old Frampton. Garcia also looked a lot fresher and stronger.

Coming into the fight, there was talk that Frampton might move up to super featherweight in the near future. I don’t think that would be a good idea at all. Frampton is too small to be fighting at 130, and it would end badly for him if he does make the move. The top guys at super featherweight, Vasyl Lomachenko, Oscar Valdez and Miguel Berchelt, would have too much size, power and youth for Frampton. Even an older fighter like Orlando Sallido would likely be too much for Frampton.

All in all, Frampton looked terrible. This was Frampton’s 5th consecutive less than impressive performance dating back to his fight against Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. in July 2015. Since that fight, Frampton has looked poor in the following fights:

– Scott Quigg

– Leo Santa Cruz

– Leo Santa Cruz

– Horacio Garcia

Garcia’s pressure really did a number on Frampton. The Irish fighter completely wilted under the pressure that Garcia put him under. From 4, it was almost impossible to give Frampton any rounds at all. The rounds that Frampton might have did well enough to win, the 5th and 10th, were rounds in which Garcia landed the better shots, and was chasing him around the ring. Frampton was red-faced and exhausted looking in the last half of the fight.

It might be a good idea for Frampton to start thinking cash out, because I don’t think he’s got too much time left in his career. When a 2nd tier fighter like Horacio Garcia is making Frampton look like he did tonight, it’s a sign that it might be time for him to think about getting one big payday and then getting out of boxing. If Frampton takes someone dangerous in a non-big money fight, he’ll likely lose unless he gets judging like we saw tonight.

Leo Santa Cruz isn’t going to fight Frampton in the UK, so he can forget about that. I don’t know if Oscar Valdez would want to take a chance of winding up in the same position as Garcia did by fighting Frampton in Belfast. Valdez is with Top Rank, and they’re not going to want to have their fighter risk his unbeaten record by going to Belfast.

Lomachenko would make Frampton look so bad right now. It would be an embarrassment if Frampton fought a talent like Lomachenko right now in my opinion. If it’s a fight that will give Frampton a big cash out, then he should take the fight with Lomachenko. I don’t think the judges could come up with some same oddball scoring that we saw tonight if Frampton faces Lomachenko. It would be too one-sided, and Lomachenko would be looking to KO Frampton so that he doesn’t end up like Garcia and lose a controversial decision.