Carl Frampton
Carl Frampton is a Northern Irish former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2021. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF super bantamweight title from 2014 to 2016, the Super version of the WBA super bantamweight title in 2016, and the Super version of the WBA featherweight title from 2016 to 2017.
By winning the featherweight world title in 2016, Frampton became the first boxer from Northern Ireland to have held world titles in two weight classes. This earned him Fighter of the Year awards from The Ring magazine, the Boxing Writers Association of America, and ESPN.
Frampton retired from boxing after losing in his WBO junior-lightweight title fight against Jamel Herring.
Early life
Frampton was the middle child among three siblings. He grew up in Tiger's Bay, an inner-city area marked by a history of conflict between Catholics and Protestants. His family belonged to the working class; his mother worked in shopping centers while his father served as a leisure center attendant. Despite their financial constraints, Frampton's parents ensured that he and his siblings had enough food and kept up with the latest trends. From a young age, Frampton developed a keen interest in boxing and frequently visited the Midland Boxing Club located near his home. At first, his small stature prevented him from training at the club, but his determination led him to return the very next day, where he soon discovered a deep passion for the sport.Amateur career
Amateur boxing in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is governed by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. As an amateur, Frampton fought out of the Midland Boxing Club in Tiger's Bay and won the Irish senior flyweight title in 2005 and added the Irish featherweight title in 2009, beating David Oliver Joyce in the final.He also claimed a silver medal at the 2007 European Union Amateur Boxing Championships in Dublin, losing to France's Khedafi Djelkhir in the final. Frampton is one of Ireland's most successful amateur boxers of recent years. He had an approximate record of 130 wins and 50 losses.
Later commenting on his decision to box for the Irish team, Frampton, who grew up in a Unionist area of Belfast, said "I get asked all the time, 'would you have liked to have boxed for Great Britain?' And the answer is 'no'. I was looked after by Irish boxing from pretty much 11 years old and was very proud to box for Ireland." He added, "it's very humbling to know that so many people are supporting me from all over Ireland and mainland UK."
Professional career
Super-bantamweight
Early career
Frampton turned professional after his victory in the 2009 Irish featherweight finals. In June 2009, fought his first professional fight under Matchroom Boxing, at the Olympia in Liverpool, England and beat Sandor Szinavel with a second-round knock-out on a card that included Grzegorz Proksa and Ajose Olusegan. He earned £4,000 for his debut. In January 2010, he was named Ireland's Prospect of the Year at the Irish National Boxing Awards. In September 2010 he recorded an "electrifying" win over the Ukrainian Yuri Voronin in front of an Ulster Hall crowd which included Daniel Day-Lewis. The win led the Belfast Telegraph to liken him to a "reincarnation" of Barry McGuigan.In December 2010, Frampton won his first professional title, the BBBofC Celtic super-bantamweight title, with a second-round TKO win over Scottish boxer Gavin Reid in the Ulster Hall. Following his victory, Frampton described the super-bantamweight division as being "super-hot" and named Scott Quigg and Rendall Munroe as potential opponents. He then went on to get a fourth-round TKO win over Venezuelan Oscar Chacin, and later fought his first defence of his BBBofC Celtic title against Welshman Robbie Turley in June 2011, winning by a unanimous decision after ten rounds.
Domestic and regional success
Frampton fought Australian Mark Quon as a replacement for Kiko Martinez on 10 September for the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast winning by a fourth-round TKO stoppage. On 28 January 2012, he successfully defended his Commonwealth title against Kris Hughes in the York Hall, with the fight having to be stopped in the seventh round. According to the BBC, Frampton controlled the contest from the start and was never threatened by his opponent. On 17 March 2012, Frampton once again defended his title against Ghana's Prosper Ankrah and won by a second-round TKO stoppage. After his victory Frampton challenged the British champion Scott Quigg saying that "I don't know if he wants it but, if he does, he should tell his promoter".Frampton then beat fellow unbeaten contender Raúl Hirales, Jr. of Mexico by a unanimous decision and won the vacant IBF Inter-continental super-bantamweight title on the undercard of Carl Froch vs. Lucian Bute in Nottingham, UK. The fight took place on 26 May 2012. On 22 September 2012, Frampton took on former two-time world champion Steve Molitor. The fight took place in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on a card that included Martin Lindsay and Paul McCloskey. Frampton scored an impressive sixth-round TKO and had the former champion on the canvas three times during the bout. After the fight, Frampton announced that he was willing to "fight anyone" and that he was "ready for a world title fight".
On 9 February 2013, Frampton faced hard-punching Spaniard Kiko Martinez in front of 8,000 of his home fans in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. Martínez, the European champion, had previously knocked out Bernard Dunne in 86 seconds to win the title and had never been knocked down. Frampton won by TKO in Round 9, winning the European super-bantamweight title and retaining the IBF Inter-Continental super-bantamweight title. After the fight Frampton said "I just want the people of Belfast to be proud of me", and described his beaten opponent as "hard as nails". In August 2014, Martinez won the IBF title with a sixth-round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Colombian Jonatan Romero.
On 19 October 2013, Frampton defended his EBU and IBF Inter-Continental titles in an IBF title eliminator against IBF fourth-ranked Jeremy Parodi. The fight took place in front of a maximum capacity 9,000 fans at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast. Frampton knocked Parodi out with a body shot at the end of the sixth round. On 4 April 2014 Frampton faced the Mexican Hugo Cazares at the Odyssey Arena in a final eliminator for Leo Santa Cruz's WBC super-bantamweight title. In front of a sold-out crowd of 9,000 Frampton knocked out Cazares in the second round, with a left hook to the head.
Frampton vs. Martínez II
Frampton challenged for his first world title on 6 September 2014 in a rematch against Kiko Martinez. Martinez's IBF super-bantamweight title was at stake and the bout took place in an outdoor arena at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. In the build-up to the fight, Frampton said of Martinez: "He's very emotional and that's what makes him dangerous... he's a hot-head, he can be very easily agitated but he's coming to win". Fighting in front of a crowd of 16,000 Frampton knocked Martinez down in the fifth round and won by unanimous decision, with two scores of 119-108 and one score of 118–111, winning his first world title. Interviewed after the fight Frampton said "I've got the world title. I feel a bit emotional – it has been a long time coming, it has been a hard road. I intend to hang on to it for a very long time." He went on to call for a unification fight with WBA champion Scott Quigg, saying "I'll fight him in Manchester, I'll fight him anywhere". After the fight, Barry McGuigan said of his protégé "This kid could end up as the best Irish fighter there has ever been."As result of his performances Frampton was nominated for the 2014 RTE Sports Person of the Year. In 2015, he was named Britain's Coolest Man by ZOO Magazine. Frampton said after receiving the award, "I couldn't believe it when they told me, I thought it was a wind-up! But it's great, especially as it's ZOO readers and the people of Britain who have voted for me. It's also great for the sport of boxing."
Frampton was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to boxing.