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| Carl Frampton follows McGuigan over Belfast divide and makes Ma proud | Carl Frampton follows McGuigan over Belfast divide and makes Ma proud |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| “This is the big one,” Carl Frampton says quietly as it is almost time for him to leave London and return to his home city of Belfast for the most significant night of his life so far. “This is the world title fight I’ve spent 20 years working towards. It’s hard to believe I was just seven when I started boxing but I’ve put everything of myself into it. So this is going to be a huge night and it’s why I want to win so much.” | “This is the big one,” Carl Frampton says quietly as it is almost time for him to leave London and return to his home city of Belfast for the most significant night of his life so far. “This is the world title fight I’ve spent 20 years working towards. It’s hard to believe I was just seven when I started boxing but I’ve put everything of myself into it. So this is going to be a huge night and it’s why I want to win so much.” |
| Frampton moves from wry detachment to concentrated intensity with a light touch. The most celebrated man in Northern Ireland is a fighter who transcends sectarian divisions and soothes raw wounds by uniting opposing communities whenever he steps into the ring. Frampton has spent the past three months in a typically rigorous training camp tucked away in a chic corner of Battersea. It is a long way from the staunchly loyalist territory of Tiger’s Bay in north Belfast, where Frampton grew up, or Poleglass, where his wife, Christine, was raised in the west of the city. | Frampton moves from wry detachment to concentrated intensity with a light touch. The most celebrated man in Northern Ireland is a fighter who transcends sectarian divisions and soothes raw wounds by uniting opposing communities whenever he steps into the ring. Frampton has spent the past three months in a typically rigorous training camp tucked away in a chic corner of Battersea. It is a long way from the staunchly loyalist territory of Tiger’s Bay in north Belfast, where Frampton grew up, or Poleglass, where his wife, Christine, was raised in the west of the city. |
| Their story is told simply and beautifully by Barry McGuigan, Frampton’s manager and the former great world champion featherweight of the 1980s, who once reminded me that “a young boxer from a hardened loyalist area fell for a girl from a hardened Republican area. He’s a great, bright kid and she’s amazingly clever and lovely. He’s a fighter and she’s a got a degree in criminology. It wasn’t meant to work – but of course it did. It shows hope for a new kind of Belfast.” | Their story is told simply and beautifully by Barry McGuigan, Frampton’s manager and the former great world champion featherweight of the 1980s, who once reminded me that “a young boxer from a hardened loyalist area fell for a girl from a hardened Republican area. He’s a great, bright kid and she’s amazingly clever and lovely. He’s a fighter and she’s a got a degree in criminology. It wasn’t meant to work – but of course it did. It shows hope for a new kind of Belfast.” |
| McGuigan could be talking about himself and how, on his way to the world title in 1985, he had also fallen for and then married Sandra, to whom he is still happily married 33 years later. They, too, crossed ancient battle lines as Barry, a Catholic, married a Protestant. Carl and Christine Frampton offer a modern mirror image of that marriage, while McGuigan remains the most striking example to his protege of everything a fighter can mean to a city and a country recovering from generations of strife. | McGuigan could be talking about himself and how, on his way to the world title in 1985, he had also fallen for and then married Sandra, to whom he is still happily married 33 years later. They, too, crossed ancient battle lines as Barry, a Catholic, married a Protestant. Carl and Christine Frampton offer a modern mirror image of that marriage, while McGuigan remains the most striking example to his protege of everything a fighter can mean to a city and a country recovering from generations of strife. |
| On Saturday night, in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, in an arena specially built for this fight, 16,000 fevered souls will roar on Frampton against the IBF super-bantamweight champion, Kiko Martínez. They have fought once before – 18 months ago in a brutal bout where Frampton’s eardrum was perforated before he stopped Martínez in the ninth round. The immensely tough Spaniard has since revived himself and become a world champion before Frampton. | On Saturday night, in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, in an arena specially built for this fight, 16,000 fevered souls will roar on Frampton against the IBF super-bantamweight champion, Kiko Martínez. They have fought once before – 18 months ago in a brutal bout where Frampton’s eardrum was perforated before he stopped Martínez in the ninth round. The immensely tough Spaniard has since revived himself and become a world champion before Frampton. |
| Martínez and Frampton will face each other in the exact location where the Titanic was launched. The old shipyard cranes and the glittering new Titanic museum will provide the backdrop to a stark contest but the challenger will feel bolstered at home. His parents, pregnant wife and three-year-old daughter, Carla, will be at ringside, watching anxiously as the rest of the arena gives in to delirious bedlam. | |
| Will Frampton look for his family before the first bell? “Yeah. I’ll get into the ring, in my zone, but I’ll give them a wave and a nod. I always do that to Christine and my mum and dad.” | Will Frampton look for his family before the first bell? “Yeah. I’ll get into the ring, in my zone, but I’ll give them a wave and a nod. I always do that to Christine and my mum and dad.” |
| Frampton grins and then, shaking his head in a cheerfully resigned way, he talks about his mother, Flo, who works for Asda in north Belfast. His story is sparked by my asking if Flo is still as enthusiastic about his extraordinary fame in their home city. “My mum’s very vocal about me, aye,” he says with a wince. “She’s very proud. It’s just a bit embarrassing. She always finds a way, with people she doesn’t know, to say something like: ‘By the way, my son’s Carl Frampton. Do you want his autograph?’ – or something crap like that. Pretty much everyone knows because she’s already told them.” | Frampton grins and then, shaking his head in a cheerfully resigned way, he talks about his mother, Flo, who works for Asda in north Belfast. His story is sparked by my asking if Flo is still as enthusiastic about his extraordinary fame in their home city. “My mum’s very vocal about me, aye,” he says with a wince. “She’s very proud. It’s just a bit embarrassing. She always finds a way, with people she doesn’t know, to say something like: ‘By the way, my son’s Carl Frampton. Do you want his autograph?’ – or something crap like that. Pretty much everyone knows because she’s already told them.” |
| The engagingly modest fighter, with an 18-0 record, laughs softly. “I say: ‘Flo, what are you doing?’ It doesn’t mean I love her any less. It’s just the way it is. A girl who works with Christine’s sister was recently in Asda shopping for suitcases. My mum was helping her and Flo said, dead casual: ‘I might need to buy one of these myself.’ The girl asked: ‘Why? Are you going on holiday?’ My ma, cool as you like, said: ‘My son might be boxing in America soon, maybe New York or Las Vegas, so I’ll need a suitcase’. The girl said: ‘Oh, right.’ My mum keeps chatting: ‘He’s Carl Frampton. Do you know him?’ When I heard this I just said: ‘Jesus Christ, Flo.’ It’s so embarrassing. My mum’s not very subtle. | The engagingly modest fighter, with an 18-0 record, laughs softly. “I say: ‘Flo, what are you doing?’ It doesn’t mean I love her any less. It’s just the way it is. A girl who works with Christine’s sister was recently in Asda shopping for suitcases. My mum was helping her and Flo said, dead casual: ‘I might need to buy one of these myself.’ The girl asked: ‘Why? Are you going on holiday?’ My ma, cool as you like, said: ‘My son might be boxing in America soon, maybe New York or Las Vegas, so I’ll need a suitcase’. The girl said: ‘Oh, right.’ My mum keeps chatting: ‘He’s Carl Frampton. Do you know him?’ When I heard this I just said: ‘Jesus Christ, Flo.’ It’s so embarrassing. My mum’s not very subtle. |
| “My dad is different. He still works in the local leisure centre and he’s the union rep and a shop steward. Dad is very grounded. He’s not bumptious or brash. He’s obviously proud but he’s completely the opposite to Flo in the way he shows it but my mum is cool.” | “My dad is different. He still works in the local leisure centre and he’s the union rep and a shop steward. Dad is very grounded. He’s not bumptious or brash. He’s obviously proud but he’s completely the opposite to Flo in the way he shows it but my mum is cool.” |
| Frampton’s family is growing. His and Christine’s second child, and their first son, is due to be born in November but their daughter will be in Christine’s arms on Saturday night at ringside. “Carla’s going to be there for the first time,” Frampton says. | Frampton’s family is growing. His and Christine’s second child, and their first son, is due to be born in November but their daughter will be in Christine’s arms on Saturday night at ringside. “Carla’s going to be there for the first time,” Frampton says. |
| “That’s partly because there’s no one to look after her as everyone wants to be at the fight but I want her there because it will be a special night. She may get frightened of the noise – and I do worry about that a little as I definitely don’t want to scare her. | “That’s partly because there’s no one to look after her as everyone wants to be at the fight but I want her there because it will be a special night. She may get frightened of the noise – and I do worry about that a little as I definitely don’t want to scare her. |
| “But I speak to her every time I go home [from training in London] and I say: ‘It’s going to be good, Carla. After I win this fight I’m going to lift you up in the ring and everyone’s going to be cheering you.’ She likes that and when training gets hard, and I’m missing them, I just think about that moment when, as world champion, I’ll lift her up in my arms in the ring.” | “But I speak to her every time I go home [from training in London] and I say: ‘It’s going to be good, Carla. After I win this fight I’m going to lift you up in the ring and everyone’s going to be cheering you.’ She likes that and when training gets hard, and I’m missing them, I just think about that moment when, as world champion, I’ll lift her up in my arms in the ring.” |
| His first fight against Martínez was savage, with the Spaniard trying to march down Frampton at every opportunity. Even after Frampton won by a devastating knockout, his face was cut and swollen and, as he says coolly: “Kiko did bust my eardrum. It was a hard night and he is a hard man. Last time I genuinely annoyed him. He had pulled out of a couple of fights with me beforehand and he was talking about how he was going to chin me. I said: ‘You’re the guy who has pulled out twice. I wouldn’t be so confident.’ It got to him. I don’t think he’ll be as hostile as last time but it won’t be friendly. At the last press conference he said: ‘I don’t like Frampton’ but I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. | |
| “I was at the fight against [South Africa’s] Jeffrey Mathebula when Kiko won the title. After the fight I gave Kiko a thumbs-up from ringside and he put his hand up. It was very nicey-nicey but his sister walked up to me. She didn’t speak any English and she was staring at me very aggressively. I thought: ‘What’s going on here?’ She then started talking and the translator told me that she said: ‘Next time, Kiko will kill you.’ I said: ‘All right, OK, no problem.’ | “I was at the fight against [South Africa’s] Jeffrey Mathebula when Kiko won the title. After the fight I gave Kiko a thumbs-up from ringside and he put his hand up. It was very nicey-nicey but his sister walked up to me. She didn’t speak any English and she was staring at me very aggressively. I thought: ‘What’s going on here?’ She then started talking and the translator told me that she said: ‘Next time, Kiko will kill you.’ I said: ‘All right, OK, no problem.’ |
| “I got loads of abuse that night in Spain. I probably wound them up because it was around Christmas time last year and I wore a Christmas jumper and a Santa hat for a joke. I got up to walk around the ring so Barry could introduce me to Sergio Martínez [the formidable Argentinian middleweight] but as soon as they saw me the crowd booed the house down.” | “I got loads of abuse that night in Spain. I probably wound them up because it was around Christmas time last year and I wore a Christmas jumper and a Santa hat for a joke. I got up to walk around the ring so Barry could introduce me to Sergio Martínez [the formidable Argentinian middleweight] but as soon as they saw me the crowd booed the house down.” |
| Martínez will be on the wrong end of a vociferous atmosphere in Belfast. As intriguingly, with McGuigan managing and promoting Frampton, and his three sons and wife all playing key roles, the showdown with Martínez is another family affair. Blain and Jake McGuigan are heavily involved in the promotion while Shane, Barry’s youngest son, at 25, trains Frampton. They have done the hardest work at Shane’s gleaming gym in Battersea where famous actors and high-end clients arrive at unlikely hours to receive personal training from the impressive cornerman. | Martínez will be on the wrong end of a vociferous atmosphere in Belfast. As intriguingly, with McGuigan managing and promoting Frampton, and his three sons and wife all playing key roles, the showdown with Martínez is another family affair. Blain and Jake McGuigan are heavily involved in the promotion while Shane, Barry’s youngest son, at 25, trains Frampton. They have done the hardest work at Shane’s gleaming gym in Battersea where famous actors and high-end clients arrive at unlikely hours to receive personal training from the impressive cornerman. |
| Frampton’s training fuses science with old-school dedication as Shane McGuigan also works as his nutritionist and conditioning coach. Shane leads a small team, which features a bioscientist and a neuro-musculoskeletal consultant in a “bespoke” training regime for Frampton. It is a long way from traditional gym talk where a wizened trainer might wheeze “get the bum outta there” as his most sophisticated pre-fight gambit. | Frampton’s training fuses science with old-school dedication as Shane McGuigan also works as his nutritionist and conditioning coach. Shane leads a small team, which features a bioscientist and a neuro-musculoskeletal consultant in a “bespoke” training regime for Frampton. It is a long way from traditional gym talk where a wizened trainer might wheeze “get the bum outta there” as his most sophisticated pre-fight gambit. |
| Yet Frampton remains a homespun Belfast boy and, away from the refined science of his camp, he embraces the ordinary quirks of the world he knows best. “I love going home to Belfast on weekend breaks from training. A little while ago I went to our local Indian restaurant where they do lovely food. I was there to pick up a Saturday night takeaway for Christine. I obviously couldn’t have any myself but Christine ordered a king prawn vindaloo, chips and rice but they gave her a naan instead of rice and we only realised when I got home. So I went back to the restaurant and the guy was so funny. He had this amazing half-Indian, half-Belfast accent and he kept swearing.” | Yet Frampton remains a homespun Belfast boy and, away from the refined science of his camp, he embraces the ordinary quirks of the world he knows best. “I love going home to Belfast on weekend breaks from training. A little while ago I went to our local Indian restaurant where they do lovely food. I was there to pick up a Saturday night takeaway for Christine. I obviously couldn’t have any myself but Christine ordered a king prawn vindaloo, chips and rice but they gave her a naan instead of rice and we only realised when I got home. So I went back to the restaurant and the guy was so funny. He had this amazing half-Indian, half-Belfast accent and he kept swearing.” |
| Frampton slips effortlessly into the surreal accent of the restaurant manager. “He said: ‘Aw, fuck me, it was my fucking fault. Aw, I’m so fucking sorry!’ I was in stitches but he was such a nice man he started adding more food to make up for his mistake. I said: ‘Don’t worry, you don’t need to do that … I won’t be able to help her eat it.’ He asked why and I explained that I’m on a diet because of the Martínez fight. He said: ‘Aw, fuck me, I’ll give you all the king prawn vindaloos you want your whole life if you give me a couple of ringside seats.’” | |
| Rather than a vindaloo, Frampton is already dreaming of his post-fight treat. “I usually allow myself a pavlova afterwards. It used to be a fruit pavlova but last time I had one with strawberries only and it was crunchy, and that was the ticket. That’s already pre-ordered. A crunchy strawberry pavlova. I normally have it for breakfast the next morning. I’ll be eating the next one as a world champion.” | Rather than a vindaloo, Frampton is already dreaming of his post-fight treat. “I usually allow myself a pavlova afterwards. It used to be a fruit pavlova but last time I had one with strawberries only and it was crunchy, and that was the ticket. That’s already pre-ordered. A crunchy strawberry pavlova. I normally have it for breakfast the next morning. I’ll be eating the next one as a world champion.” |
| Frampton’s expected victory on a tumultuous night will mean much to modern Belfast. It will be underpinned by two extraordinary families, the Framptons and the McGuigans, who have worked together for so long to reach this defining night. “We’re best friends, me and Shane and Jake, and I’ve looked up to Barry for such a long time,” Frampton says. “I know if I match him and become a world champion my own family will want to burst with pride. | Frampton’s expected victory on a tumultuous night will mean much to modern Belfast. It will be underpinned by two extraordinary families, the Framptons and the McGuigans, who have worked together for so long to reach this defining night. “We’re best friends, me and Shane and Jake, and I’ve looked up to Barry for such a long time,” Frampton says. “I know if I match him and become a world champion my own family will want to burst with pride. |
| “I reckon my mum’s customers in Asda are in for a right old earbashing. Flo’s not going to let them hear about anything else for a long time. It could be embarrassing – but it’s going to be great.” | “I reckon my mum’s customers in Asda are in for a right old earbashing. Flo’s not going to let them hear about anything else for a long time. It could be embarrassing – but it’s going to be great.” |