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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Gareth Fullerton

Carl Frampton "briefly considered" comeback after former rival's world title win

Retired Carl Frampton says he considered making a comeback after watching former rival Kiko Martinez become a world champion again last year.

Martinez - who Frampton beat twice in his pro career - sensationally stopped Kid Galahad in November to claim the IBF World featherweight title.

Frampton brought the curtain down on a glittering career last April, but says he "briefly flirted" with the idea of returning to the ring after Martinez's win.

The former two-weight world champion told Belfast Live: "When Kiko won the world title and beat Kid Galahad, I went for a run the next day. But when it took me four days to recover from a 5-6k run I knew I don't have it anymore.

"So it quickly went out of my head. It was literally in my head for half a day, about potentially making a comeback.

"I am very happy with what I did in boxing. I couldn't get close to the levels I once was at, so no, not a chance."

He added: "I flirted with the idea, but very briefly. Literally for about 12 hours. But it was probably a silly thought, to be honest."

Frampton's first win over Martinez came in a European title fight at the SSE Arena in February 2012.

The pair would meet again two years later at the Titanic Slipway in Belfast, with Frampton earning a points win to clinch his first world title.

He would go on to add the WBA World featherweight belt with a superb win over Leo Santa Cruz in New York in 2016, becoming only the third Irish boxer to win world titles in two different weight divisions.

Frampton's quest to become Ireland's first-ever three-weight world champion ended in defeat to former US Marine Herring in Dubai 10 months ago, with the Tiger's Bay fighter announcing his retirement in the ring straight after.

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