Warrington vs Frampton results: Josh Warrington wins decision to retain title

In an entertaining main event from Manchester, Josh Warrington surprised a lot of folks today by successfully defending his IBF featherweight title in a 12-round decision win over Carl Frampton.

Scores were 116-112, 116-112, and 116-113. BLH had it 116-112 for Warrington.

Warrington (28-0, 6 KO) and Frampton (26-2, 15 KO) traded whirlwind shots in the first round, setting the tone for the first half of the bout, where Warrington outworked Frampton and kept the pressure on, often tagging Frampton and even backing him down a few times with clean shots.

Frampton hung in, though, like a true professional contender and former two-division champion, and made a fight of it. As the pace slowed a bit in the second half, he boxed his way back into the contest, never letting Warrington fully run away with it, but never quite able to catch up, either.

It’s obviously a huge win for Warrington, coming seven months after taking the IBF title from Lee Selby, and puts him on a path to big time fights and potential unification. And while it’s a setback for Frampton, it’s not one that ruins his status or anything — he remains a solid contender.

“I think I’ve earned me Christmas turkey now,” Warrington said after the fight, after expressing admiration for Frampton, adding, “It was an honor to share the ring with him.”

“Josh won the fight fair and square,” Frampton said. “I was in incredible shape coming into this fight and the better man won, simple as that. I hope he goes on to do great things and unify.”

Undercard:

• Liam Williams TKO-10 Mark Heffron (Williams wins vacant British middleweight title)
• Hassan N’dam MD-12 Martin Murray (114-114, 116-112, 117-112) (N’dam wins WBC “silver” middleweight title)
• Billy Joe Saunders RTD-4 Charles Adamu
• Michael Conlan UD-10 Jason Cunningham (97-92, 97-92, 98-92)
• Nathan Gorman UD-12 Razvan Cojanu (119-109, 119-109, 120-108)