Frampton beats McCreary; Valdez stops Lopez

By Boxing News - 12/01/2019 - Comments

By Robert Addams: The popular former two-division world champion Carl Frampton came into his fight last Saturday night against Tyler McCreary needing a victory over him to earn a title shot against WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring. Showing off his advantage in skills, Frampton (27-2, 15 KOs) dominated the 26-year-old McCreary (16-1-1, 7 KOs) in beating him by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was a costly win for Frampton with him suffering hand injuries

Frampton suffered a left hand injury, and he also injured his right during the contest. That might explain why McCreary was able to go the distance with him.

This was a catchweight fight at 128 pounds at super featherweight.  Frampton knocked McCreary down with shots to the body in rounds 6 and 9, and showed that he could hurt when he wanted to when he went downstairs.

Frampton cruises to easy victory

Carl Frampton likely would have stopped McCreary if he wanted to, but he didn’t pour it on after he had him down both times. Frampton needed rounds badly, because he’s been out of the ring for 11 months healing after suffering a freak hand injury at a hotel not long ago.

The scores were 100-88 x 3 for Frampton. That’s the same score Boxing News 24 had the fight. McCreary looked like he didn’t belong inside the same ring with Frampton, and that’s what the whole idea was in him being picked for the fight.

Frampton needed a sure thing victory for his debut at super featherweight, and McCreary was found as the sacrificial lamb. for him to accomplish that task.

Final punch stats

To fully appreciate how much of a mismatch the Frampton-McCreary fight was, one only needs to take a quick glance at the final punch stats. Frampton landed 141 of 461 for 31% connect rate, whereas McCreary landed only 71 of 412 for 19% connect percentage.

Frampton’s win puts him in title fight with Jamel Herring

The victory by Frampton earned him a title shot against the Top Rank promoted WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring (21-2, 10 KOs). Frampton and Herring are expected to face each other in the first half of 2020, as long as there are no injury issues. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum wants the Frampton-Herring fight, and it’s one that Frampton would have an excellent chance of winning.

Herring is arguably the weakest link among the champions at 130 right now, and Frampton will surely be considered the favorite going in. Last night, the 34-year-old Herring was at ringside to watch Frampton in action, knowing that he’ll be next challenger. After the Frampton-McCreary fight ended, Herring entered the ring to discuss with promoter Arum the upcoming fight with Frampton.

“It’s the first time I’ve met Jamel,” said Frampton. “My impression of him before I met him is that he’s a nice guy, and he lived up to my impression. I just want to fight for a world title next, and I want them big fights. And I would love the opportunity to fight Jamel. If it happens in Belfast, great. If I have to go to New York, I’m also up for that.”

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WBO champion Herring wants the Frampton fight as well, but the match will likely be delayed. Frampton fractured his left hand and he also injured his right hand.

“We don’t turn down no smoke. I would love the fight. We can make it happen. Let’s do it,” said Herring.

Frampton rebounds from loss to Warrington

The fight for the former two division world champion Frampton was his first since losing to IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington on December 22 last year. Frampton was outworked by the busier and younger Warringoton in losing a 12 round decision.

It wasn’t a one-sided defeat for Frampton, but it was a close loss. The 29-year-old Warrington’s punch volume was too much for the 32-year-old Frampton. After the defeat, Frampton was supposed to return to the ring last summer on August 10 in a tune-up match against Emmanuel Dominguez, but Carl suffered a left hand injury the week of the fight.

The injury occurred when a pillar fell over and landed on Frampton’s left hand while he was staying at a hotel the week of his scheduled fight with Dominguez. With the injury, Frampton couldn’t take the fight, and he had to pull out.

The rationale for Frampton going after McCreary’s midsection was due to his left hand not being 100% for the fight, and it was easier for him to land body shots than upstairs. There was less pain involved for Frampton. However, Frampton hurt his left hand in the 2nd, and was forced to deal with the injury for the remaining eight rounds of the contest.

Despite the lanky 5’9″ McCreary’s eight-inch reach advantage, he wasn’t able to dominate Frampton when he had him on the outside. Frampton made sure that he would stay out of punching range when he was on the outside.

When Frampton would go to land, he move quickly within punching range, get his shots off, and then move away. McCreary was too slow to hit Frampton with anything when he was coming forward.

Oscar Valdez stops Adam Lopez

Frampton’s performance against McCreary was far better than what fans saw from former WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez in the main event on the card last Saturday night. Valdez (27-0, 21 KOs) had to get up off the deck in round 2 to come back and stop last minute sub Adam Lopez (13-2, 6 KOs) in the 7th. Despite winning by knockout, Valdez had problems with Lopez throughout the fight, and his face was swollen and marked up by the end.

Lopez landed a lot of shots, and had Valdez struggling until he stopped him in what appeared to be a premature stoppage in round 7. Referee Russell Mora quickly stopped the bout after Valdez dropped Lopez. When he got back up, and halted the bout after he landed another punch. The bout was waived off at 2:53 of round 7.

The Valdez vs. Lopez fight was sanctioned as a WBC super featherweight title eliminator. Valdez will now be challenging WBC champion Miguel Berchelt (37-1, 33 KOs) next in 2020, and that’s going to be a far tougher fight for him than what he had against Lopez. Valdez will need to improve greatly for him to have a shot at beating the talented Berchelt.