AN ICY wind came whistling in off the Irish Sea that night in September 2014.
But nobody noticed.
On the slipway from which the Titanic had set sail on its doomed voyage 102 years’ previously thousands of Carl Frampton fans roared ‘the Jackal’ to the world title against Kiko Martinez.
It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago.
Frampton hardly put a foot wrong as he climbed the ladder to win that IBF super-bantamweight belt. He had the perfect combination of skill and bravado, under-pinned with the fighting heart and down-to-earth personality we demand in our sporting heroes.
With every fight he grew stronger, he added confidence and attracted more supporters until he was able to fill a purpose-built arena on the Titanic slipway. That night against Kiko in Belfast, with Shane and Barry McGuigan in his corner, was arguably the pinnacle of his brilliant career.
Martinez was down in the fifth but it wasn’t until round nine or 10 that Frampton, by then on the way to victory, allowed himself the luxury of a little flair and he rammed home a salvo of hooks of either hand into the Spaniard’s body.
Kiko was never coming back from there.
“When I mention it to people, nobody can believe it was that long ago,” says Frampton.
“I was just talking to Josh Warrington ahead of the Anto Cacace fight and that fight (Frampton-Warrington) was six years ago which is even harder to believe.
“It was a great night and I have an internal debate with myself over whether that or the Leo Santa Cruz fight (in New York the following July) was the best night of my career. It’s hard to look past the first world title – a purpose-built arena and with everything else happening around it, it was a special night.
“When I was standing in the ring I remember I could see the ‘Thompson’s Animal Feeds’ sign so you could almost see Tigers Bay where I grew up. As the crow flies, it was probably and mile and-a-half away from where our house. It was an iconic venue – obviously Belfast is famous for building the Titanic – and it was a Government-backed event which doesn’t happen too often. How many fighters get to say that? Not many.
“So the whole thing was massive and to have everyone who meant something to me there was very special.”
Since Frampton retired in 2021, Irish fighters have found his shoes almost impossible to fill and none have quite been able to capture the public imagination and have the success he did. After that world title win, Frampton unified the belt by beating Scott Quigg in Manchester and then became Ireland’s second-ever two-weight world champion when he beat Santa Cruz at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I had already beaten Kiko in a European title fight and people would look in the record book and it said: ‘TKO round nine’. So they probably assumed it would be an easy-enough fight because I had stopped him before,” says Frampton.
“But the first fight was a hard, hard battle. I was pissing blood after the first fight. When people piss blood they usually worry a wee bit but I went back to the changingrooms feeling like a warrior: ‘Look at me, I’m pissing blood!’
“It was a strange feeling and I remembered how hard the first fight was but I think a lot of people forgot that and Kiko had been on a bit of a run. He beat Jonathon Romero to win the title and then he had two defences so he was flying.
“But with me being at home in Belfast and because I had already beaten him, people just expected it to be a foregone conclusion. I didn’t see it like that, I knew it was going to be difficult so there was probably more pressure on me going into that fight than any other fight in my career.
“I think it was one of my better performances because I boxed to instructions. I remember I had a good 11th round and then at the start of the 12th I got him with a couple of good shots and he staggered back a bit. I put it on him for about 30 seconds and I was thinking maybe I could stop him, but it wasn’t to be.
“I remember after 30 seconds of trying to get rid of him I just thought to myself: ‘This guy’s going nowhere and you’re about to blow a gasket’. I knew I was a mile in front so I just needed to see it through.”
On Friday, Frampton will relive that night, one of the great events in Ireland’s sporting history, with friends and family at the Europa Hotel. All proceeds from the night will go to charity as ‘the Jackal’ takes a trip down memory lane with the friends, family and supporters who followed him from his early days on leisure centre underdogs to that night on the Titanic slipway and beyond.
LEWIS Crocker could fight for a world title before the end of this year. The Belfast welterweight forced his way into contention when reached the 20-0 mark with a points win against ranked rival Conah Walker in June to claim the WBA international title.
That meant he moved to number three in the WBA champion rankings and into a position to challenge champion Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis (15-0) who hasn’t seen action since May when he beat Gabriel Maestre in Las Vegas.
There are other routes too. ‘Croc’ is ranked 11 with the WBO and five with the IBF and there is speculation that champion Jarod Ennis could give up the IBF belt leaving Crocker in the frame to fight for the vacant title.
“There’s a few options – one being a world title,” confirmed Crocker’s coach Billy Nelson.
“It all depends on how things pan out,” he said.
“It could be next for Lewis depending on different scenarios and, 100 per cent, Lewis could fight for the world title next – of course he could. If we’re offered it we’ll take it, that’s what we’re in the game for. You’re in it to test yourself against the best and I believe that Lewis Crocker is one of the best.”
Nelson poured cold water on talk of an all-Ireland shootout with Limerick’s Paddy Donovan.
“I don’t think the Paddy Donovan fight is going to happen this year because they don’t have a venue that’s available in Ireland, north or south. That type of fight would have to be in Ireland,” he said.
Nelson added that “with the fullest of respect” to Donovan, he wouldn’t take the fight if it was outside Belfast.
“Paddy is the B-side isn’t he?” he said.
“Lewis is the champion so it would need to be in Belfast to make sense for us. What does Paddy bring to the table? He’s not beat anybody in the top 30. He can argue black is white and white is black but Lewis beat a number five champion to become number three.
“Plus, Paddy is a good ticket-seller but he’s nowhere near Lewis Crocker.”
