Josh Warrington vs Carl Frampton: IBF champion retains title as Frampton ponders retirement
Follow latest reaction from the Manchester Arena
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Josh Warrington defeated Carl Frampton in one of the fights of the year, retaining his IBF featherweight championship and sending him on to greater things in an attempt to unify the division.
Leeds-born Warrington exploded out of the blocks in the very first round and nearly knocked Frampton down, with the former two-weight world champion only just surviving to the bell and suffering the same barrage in the second. Frampton recovered to make a fight of it in a scrap that developed into a classic, but Warrington proved a class above throughout and again nearly finished it in the 12th.
Re-live all the action here.
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Preview
When and where is the fight?
The bout will take place on December 22nd at the Manchester Arena, it was initially set to take place in a stadium but concerns over dates and mandatory challengers meant Warren settled with selecting an arena.
Ring walks will take place around 10pm but as always is the way with boxing, that is subject to change.
Where can I watch it?
It will be shown live on BT Sport Box Office, the broadcaster's second pay-per-view event of December following on from Deontay Wilder's world heavyweight title defence against Tyson Fury.
The cost of the box office event has yet to be announced but will likely be £19.95.
Can I stream online?
The fight will be shown on the BT Sport Box Office website and via the BT Sport Box Office app.
Who's going to win?
Josh Warrington 15/8
Carl Frampton 8/15
Draw 20/1
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Josh Warrington vs Carl Frampton from Manchester.
Leeds-born Warrington is bidding to defend the IBF world featherweight crown won from Lee Selby in January in brutal style but has he knows he has it all to do against former two-weight world champion Frampton.
We'll have all the build-up and action right here.
With a clash of shows tonight between Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, BT Sport are doing their best to show off why you should be buying (or following our live blog) their coverage.
To be fair, what a show they have got going on.
Tommy Fury will be making his professional debut this evening.
The 19-year-old younger brother of Tyson looks in great shape and has explained why he turned professional so early on.
The one and only Steve Bunce gave his preview of Warrington vs Frampton.
Give it a read to whet the appetite.
Take a look at what happened when both men weighed in on Friday afternoon.
Former WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders has beaten Charles Adamu in his return bout this evening.
The Ghanaian fighter retired on his stool at the end of the fourth.
Some last minute sharpening of the tools for tonight's debutant.
Our line up of boxing expert Steve Bunce and reporter Luke Brown are inside the Manchester Evening News Arena and will be bringing you all the latest updates and analysis throughout the night.
As we kick off the TV coverage, Steve Bunce brings us the perfect build-up towards the big event.
We have never had two fighters coming from big stadium victories. We are in uncharted territories here.
We're kicking off the main undercard action with none other than the name FURY...
No, not Tyson, but instead it's his younger brother Tommy Fury, with the 19-year-old tonight making his professional debut against Jevgenijs Andrejevs. The two are in the ring ready to go and the introductions are done and dusted.
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