Northern Irish boxing legend, Carl Frampton, has told of his greatest achievement in his twelve-year professional career.
‘The Jackal’ was a dominant force in the super-bantamweight division, where he won the IBF world title and then unified the belts by beating Scott Quigg and adding the WBA strap to his collection.
The Ulsterman then continued his unbeaten run into the featherweight ranks, where he defeated Leo Santa Cruz by majority decision to win the WBA title on his 125lb debut.
His first loss came in the rematch to Santa Cruz, this time being on the wrong side of a majority decision and ending a seven-and-a-half year and twenty-three fight undefeated streak. Frampton went on to defeat pound-for-pound great Nonito Donaire in his native Belfast, before two unsuccessful title challenges.
Frampton lost to the then undefeated Josh Warrington by a close decision before moving up to his third weight division and taking on Jamal Herring for the WBO super-featherweight title. After being stopped inside the distance for the first time in his career, Frampton called it quits at the age of 35-years-old.
On William Hill’s podcast, Stripped with Specs & Vuj, Frampton revealed that his career highlight was when he defeated Kiko Martinez for the IBF super-bantamweight title – the first of his three career world honours.
“Professionally, it was winning my first world title, that was like everything I’ve wanted to achieve. That feeling of getting your hand raised at the end, especially doing it at home in Belfast, so the champion came to me, because of the money that can be generated and the fan base. To do it at home was really special.”
Nowadays Frampton is a regular, well-respected pundit on BT Sport, but fans will always remember the stylish Northern-Irishman for his ability inside the ring and the way he overcame Commonwealth heartbreak to achieve a stellar career.