Carl Frampton overcomes first-round knockdowns to defeat Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.

EL PASO - It was the most wonderful of wars: two men going face to face, fist to face for 12 unforgiving rounds.

When the final bell clanged, Ireland's rock star/world champion Carl Frampton was still undefeated, still the IBF junior featherweight champion of the world.

But it was never easy. It was a war.

Frampton got off the canvas twice in the first round to pound out a unanimous decision over leather-tough Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. - 116-108 twice and 115-109. But it was not nearly as easy as those scores indicate.

"I've never been on the canvas," said Frampton, who is now 21-0 with 14 knockouts. "Give Alejandro Gonzalez so much credit. You look at him and he doesn't look like a big puncher. But the man can punch."

Gonzalez, now 25-2-2 with 15 knockouts, almost turned this party upside down in the very first round. It was supposed to be Frampton's coming out party, his first fight in the United States. But early in the first round the aggressive Frampton walked right into a beautiful Gonzalez left hook that knocked him off balance and caused him to touch the canvas with his right glove.

He shrugged it off, took the eight count and went after Gonzalez again. But, just before the end of that opening round, Gonzalez landed a crisp straight right hand that dropped Frampton to the seat of his pants.

Suddenly, just like that, the champion was down 10-7 on the scorecards. Just like that, Frampton found himself fighting uphill.

"I was just shocked … just shocked really," Frampton said. "Two flash knockdowns."

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Frampton went to work, pursuing the game Gonzalez, unloading thudding left hands to the body, straight right hands, left hooks to the chops. He won round after round, taking the lead in this war after five rounds. Gonazalez will probably see those green gloves in his sleep Saturday night.

But Gonzalez was not going gently into that good desert afternoon.

In fact, he landed a stinging combination early in the ninth round and held on enough to win that round on one judge's scorecard.

You could have plopped these two men into a broom closet and they would have done the same thing, banging each other again and again … neither giving ground. Both their faces showed the results after this war.

"I'm proud of the way I fought," Gonzalez said. "It's his first time being down. That shows I am very hard with my punches. I told you all that this wasn't going to be a fight. It was going to be a war. I told you guys I was coming to win. I didn't win. I lost. But I changed my life. I went up … I went up with this fight. And I went in there and told Carl thank you for this opportunity, for this chance to show what I can do."

Former world champion Barry McGuigan, who manages Frampton, said, "I'm a little disappointed. But this was a terrific fight. He got caught early but he showed courage. The mat in the ring was set up for (Julio Cesar) Chavez Jr. (who fought later in the evening). It was an inch and a half thick. The other guy (Gonzalez) had to deal with it, too. But Carl has more legs than you saw. But a win is a win. And, like I said, it was a terrific fight."

In the end, after that final bell, Frampton had the edge in everything - 139-97 in power punches, 107-48 with his stinging jab and, of course, on the all-important judges' scorecards.

Frampton came here to display his skills, to make a name for himself in the more lucrative fight world of the United States. How was this opening statement?

"The statement I made wasn't great," Frampton said. "I wanted to win by knockout. It didn't happen. I'm disappointed. But I'll re-evaluate and move on - onward and upwards."

The statement might have been a bit better than Frampton thought.

It was, after all, a wonderful war.

Bill Knight writes for the El Paso Times. He can be reached at bknight@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @BillKnightept