Last Saturday evening, Lewis Crocker edged home by razor thin 12-round split decision over Paddy Donovan in their rematch to claim the vacant IBF welterweight title, at Windsor Park, Northern Ireland.

It was an absorbing encounter between the two Irishmen that took place six months after their first fight which Crocker won by eighth-round disqualification having been largely dominated.

From ringside, Carl Frampton, who was one of 20,000 in attendance, worked as a commentator for DAZN, witnessed the fight between his two compatriots.

"[Crocker] was a lot better in the fight than he was the first time," Frampton told The Ring. "It was a much different fight than the first one. Lewis showed tactically he was a lot better.

"I think it was a tight fight, a lot of the rounds were tight, where there wasn't much landing and depending what you liked, you could be scoring to a different man."

The former two-division world champion knows both fighters but is closer to Crocker, who he has known since he was a child making a name for himself on the local scene amateur scene.

That's not to say he's not objective with the scoring of the fight.

"I'd like to watch the fight back but sitting ringside I thought Paddy had done enough to win the fight, but I get a lot of the rounds were close," he said. "Lucky enough, I'm not one of the judges. I always like to be as honest as I can.

"I think Lewis and Billy Nelson were a lot better than they were the first time. I'm delighted for Lewis and his family that he was able to get the hand raised. I do think Paddy will feel a little hard done by especially with what happened in the first fight, too."

Frampton draws certain parallels between Crocker-Donovan 2 and the second go around he had with Leo Santa Cruz, having upset the Mexican American in their first fight, only for Santa Cruz to drastically change his style for the rematch. We saw something similar between Crocker (22-0, 11 KOs) and Donovan (14-2, 11 KOs).

"I'd imagine Paddy and his team didn't expect that Lewis could do that even if he wanted to and if he did want to Paddy would have enough to get around that problem," he explained. "I think we saw a completely different style and he showed us he can be patient and carry out a game plan to a tee, which is difficult to do and to remain that disciplined throughout a fight when really your main style is to be aggressive but to stay on the back foot and counter the counterpuncher, I think he had to be disciplined.

"Sunny [Edwards on commentary] was spot on [explaining what Crocker was doing in real time], he nailed it, obviously he knows what he's talking about. I thought we'd see Crocker trying to become more aggressive as the fight went on, but he remained the same."

It'll be interesting to see where both fighters go from here. Frampton believes Donovan can rebound and dine at the top table of the welterweight division again.

However, Donovan will have to pick himself up from two radically different loses but loses all the same. Those sort of setbacks have permanently derailed careers in the past but Frampton feels if he can harness those defeats, he could return even stronger.

"I really like Paddy Donovan and his style, I think he's an amazing boxer," he said. "I think Paddy is going to be disappointed but on a bit of reflecting, out of the two fights, the 20 rounds they had, he probably won the majority of the rounds, if he wants to think of it in that sense then he knows he's good enough to become world champion because there's nothing between him and Crocker and he's a world champion.

"Having good people like [trainer] Andy Lee around him, who's full of wisdom. I'd like to see him come back. No doubt in my mind Paddy can become world champion at some stage in his career."

Meanwhile, Crocker has earned big fights with some of the other top fighters at welterweight.

"Lewis will be looking for a voluntary, I can see him fighting Conor Benn after he fights [Chris] Eubank [Jr.], if the IBF allow him that amount of time," he reasoned. "Matchroom would like to keep it in house amongst their fighters. I think it's a fight Lewis could win, it's a good fight, it's an exciting fight. It'll raise Lewis profile considerably and more than that he'll make a bag full of money which is also very important in this game.

"The welterweight division isn't what it was a few years ago. There's not the killers there was a few years ago, so Lewis has an opportunity to now go on and cement his legacy and make a bit of a name for himself. Whatever happens from this moment on he'll always be able to call himself a world champion."

And Frampton wouldn't mind seeing them tussle for a third time.

"Of course, it wasn't like it was two wins and one-sided, I think because of the controversy around the first fight, how close the second fight was, of course it makes sense for a third fight at some point," he said.

A big takeaway from the outdoor arena showdown for Frampton was bringing big-time boxing back to Belfast, something that has been missing for several years, since he enjoyed his own big nights there in the mid-late 2010s.

"I always wanted to be a fly on the wall on my own fights and be able to soak it all up and be there as a fan," he said. "Now I get to do that with Lewis Crocker, so may the journey continue, and I hope he's a world champion for a very long time."