Jamie Moore reckons he has saved Irish hero Carl Frampton from possible burn out.
Frampton has his first fight under Moore and new promoter Frank Warren in Belfast on Saturday night, a 10 rounder against hard Mexican Horacio Garcia, screened live on BT Sport.
Frampton’s split from the McGuigans came as a surprise after winning world super-bantamweight and featherweight titles with them, but his new trainer believes the move away from them will prolong the 30 year old’s career.
Frampton has hinted in interviews that he was concerned about wear and tear – and that may have been a reason behind him leaving the McGuigans.
“Carl was training hard all the time,” said Moore, “and that’s crazy.
“By the time you’re 30, you don’t want to be taking loads of punches and that’s what happens when you spar 12 hard rounds every other day.
“That will have a negative effect.
“We have been training smarter, making the sparring quality rather than quantity, and Carl says he feels much fresher than he has for a couple of years.
“He has flown through the camp and looks as sharp as a razor.”
Sparring partners at Moore’s gym have included former Commonwealth featherweight champion Isaac Lowe.
Moore, a former British, Commonwealth and European super-welterweight champion who gave his all throughout his 37-fight career, admits even he was shocked to get the call to train Frampton.
“You expect him to go to someone with masses of experience,” said Moore, “but every trainer gets a break sometime and maybe this is mine.
“I have got big fight experience. I was in the corner with Amir Khan early in his career (when he was trained by Oliver Harrison) and I’ve been there with Martin Murray and Matthew Macklin in Atlantic City as well.
“Carl came to the gym for a trial for a couple of days, he liked my way of training and we clicked.
“There’s a good buzz in the gym and that can make a good fighter perform better as well.”
Moore describes training Frampton as “probably the easiest job in boxing.”
He explained: “It’s not like I have to teach him a lot. Carl has all the attributes and follows instructions well.
“There aren’t really any weaknesses and I’m just trying to make sure he avoids certain situations in fights.”
Frampton has been out of the ring since the defeat to Leo Santa Cruz in their rematch in January and Moore says he’s matched tough in his comeback fight.
“There were easier opponents out there for him,” said Moore of 27 year old Garcia.
The Mexican has yet to be stopped in a 33-3-1 career and showed his stubborn streak when lasting the distance with razor-sharp left hander Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz last December.
Diaz won every round on the cards and Garcia was also soundly outpointed by Japanese veteran Hozumi Hasegawa in another venture into world class.
“Every time he has stepped up, he has got beaten,” said Moore, “but he’s still tough.
“Carl has been out for a while and he isn’t an easy guy to come back against. If Carl gets him out of there, it will be a very, very good performance, but I don’t expect him to. I want him to get good rounds under his belt and build towards big fights next year.”
Frampton has said that providing all goes well this weekend, he wants “one of the big boys next” and Santa Cruz is obviously his preferred opponent.
Frampton outpointed him on a majority points vote in 2016 to become a two-weight world champion and six months later, the majority verdict went Santa Cruz’s way.
Other options for Frampton include the winner of Lee Selby-Josh Warrington and possibly Oscar Valdez, who holds the WBO belt.
There’s a chance he could fight at Windsor Park next year and Moore said: “We are hoping to get (Leo) Santa Cruz over early next year and (Abner) Mares has mentioned fighting Carl.
“Carl doesn’t want to be treading water at this stage of his career. These are the big fights he wants to get his juices flowing.”
READ MORE:
Carl Frampton Signs With MTK Global
Frampton Leaves Barry McGuigan And Cyclone Promotions
Unfortunate Events Lead To The Cancellation Of Frampton-Gutierrez