Carl Frampton remembers sparring Katie Taylor: ‘If I stood off her and tried to box her, I’d have been outboxed’

Carl Frampton, who has held world titles at 122 and 126 pounds, spoke with Sky Sports about Katie Taylor, who will go for an undisputed lightweight championship this Saturday in New York, live on DAZN.

Frampton remembers working and sparring with Taylor years ago.

“Katie was the standout female amateur boxer on the planet,” he said. “She used to train alongside us, and she sparred with us. I sparred Katie a number of times. I’ve always had a good relationship with her, she’s a quality boxer, she’s always been brilliant. I always loved watching her, even in the amateurs.”

Frampton says that he used his strength advantages in the ring with Taylor, but that skill-wise, she could very much hold her own and then some.

“I’m going to speak honestly here, I was always a bit stronger than Katie. But if I stood off her and tried to box her, I’d have been outboxed,” Frampton said. “She was very fast, punched a lot faster than me, technically better than me. But when I was getting outboxed, I’d kind of tend to lie on her and kind of push her around and try and use my strength a bit, to tire her out a bit. But Katie was a phenomenal boxer, always has been.”

Taylor (13-0, 6 KO) is the clear favorite for her fight with Delfine Persoon (43-1, 18 KO) on Saturday, and Frampton figures that’s pretty much par for the course for Taylor, especially in Ireland.

“Big expectations on her. She’s a huge name in the world of sport, but in Ireland in particular, she’s a massive name,” he said. “People just expect her to win. If I’m being honest, I don’t know too much about the opponent. She’s a world champion, but I don’t know a lot about her, I’ve never seen her before. But we all just expect any fight that Katie Taylor is in, we expect her to win, and there’s no difference this time.

“I think that women’s boxing is kind of on the way up, and it’s thanks to girls like Katie and Claressa Shields and a few other people. She is in my eyes already, but potentially she can be an absolute worldwide superstar.”

Bad Left Hook will have live coverage of Taylor vs Persoon and the rest of the Joshua vs Ruiz card on Saturday, June 1, at 5:30 pm ET streaming live on DAZN