Carl Frampton hails Belfast fans for “noisiest ever” atmosphere
After 31 long months, Carl Frampton [24(14)-1(0)] found himself back fighting in his native Belfast on Saturday night.
Following fights in England and America and world titles won and lost, ‘The Jackal’ was back in his Den for a comeback non-title ten-rounder versus Horacio Garcia, headlining the ‘Frampton Reborn’ BT Sport card.
While there was no title on the line, the venue was still packed out to watch Frampton overcome the tough Mexican and afterwards the home favourite thanked his support.
The Ulsterman enjoys his home comforts, and came into the fight in high spirits following his first camp with new trainer Jamie Moore.
In his post-fight press conference Frampton was slightly disappointed with what he described as a “mediocre” performance, but instantly perked up when talking about The Jackal Army.
“Unreal,” reflected the two-weight world champion.
“The whole fight week was stress-free, I just felt good, relaxed the whole time. Everything just felt right. It was good to be back in Belfast, I was well looked after.”
Ahead of the main event the Odyssey momentarily functioned as a concert venue with a succession of songs that whipped the fans into a frenzy as they awaited the entrance of Frampton.
Going from crowd favourite ‘Sweet Caroline’ into ‘Jump Around’ into ‘Daydream Believer’ into ‘Living Next Door to Alice’ before a return to the Neil Diamond classic, the arena was positively bouncing ahead of the headliner’s walk-in.
@RealCFrampton If only you could go to one of your own fights as a fan…you’d love it mate! Haha some craic #FramptonReborn pic.twitter.com/0Ib85hlHPy
— Paul McClure (@chiefmackers) November 19, 2017
Preparing backstage, Frampton could hear the party atmosphere outside and felt it was better than ever.
The 30 year old, who was headlining the venue for a sixth time, stated how “at a point there, just before the fight, that was the noisiest I’ve ever heard this arena, unreal.”
“It sent goosebumps up me, it was good.”
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
