CARL FRAMPTON says he feels the “best he’s ever felt in boxing” after admitting all he thought about was retirement.
It was announced yesterday that the boxer has secured his “dream” fight at Windsor Park in Belfast on August 18.
The 31-year-old has long-talked about doing battle at home of the Northern Ireland football team in the city where he was born.
But the interim WBO featherweight world champion has revealed that all he had been doing in recent years was counting down the days until he hanged his gloves up.
That was until he split with Cyclone promotions and trainer Shane McGuigan and joined up with Jamie Moore last year.
Speaking to SunSport, Frampton said: “I was always talking about retiring, I was constantly talking about that.
“I’m 31 now, but when I was 28 I was counting down the days to retirement.
“I was thinking ‘I can’t wait until I’m 32, I’ll pack up and that’s me done’. I said that a lot.
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“But I’m not talking about that now, I’m not thinking about retiring, I still feel like I have more to give.
“If you look at my last performance [against Nonito Donaire] you can see that I can keep doing it.”
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Frampton describes his comprehensive points victory two weeks ago against Donaire as one of his career-best performances.
And he has got that smile on his face and love for boxing back as he prepares for his August homecoming.
He added: “I’m enjoying myself a lot more, in the gym I’m really enjoying it.
“The people I’m around are great, it’s good craic.
“We train hard but there is a lot of big characters in the gym and we all work hard and it’s good fun.
“I think I would have enjoyed working with Jamie [Moore} a bit before I did, but that’s for a reason.
“I’m just glad I’m going to finishing my career with good good people.”
An opponent is yet to be named for Frampton’s date with destiny on August 18, with WBO champ Oscar Valdez recovering from jaw surgery following his victory against Scott Quigg in March.
Down the line Frampton looks set to meet the winner of Josh Warrington and Lee Selby, who fight for the latter’s IBF featherweight world title on May 19.
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