Carl Frampton on the Greatest Irish Fighter of All Time standings

Carl Frampton is too humble to lay claim to being Ireland’s greatest-ever boxer. However, if he had become a three-weight world champion he wonders if he’d have been forced to throw that modesty out the window.

As one of only three two-weight Irish world champions – alongside Katie Taylor and Steve Collins – and one of only three to unify – Katie Taylor and Ryan Burnett being the others – ‘The Jackal’, who also won European and Commonwealth titles across a brilliant career, is certainly in the GOAT race.

The now TNT pundit won’t say if he should be deemed top of a brilliant pile but does wonder if he could have been leading the charge if he had won his final professional fight.

Defeat Jamel Herring in a WBO super featherweight world title fight in 2021 and the Belfast star would have been Ireland’s first and only ever three-weight world champion.

Win that and he may have argued his greatest case but he suffered defeat against the now Wayne McCullough-trained ‘Semper Fi’ and as a result, he is happy to leave the debate to others.

“I’m very happy with my career, a two-weight world champion, the only one from Northern Ireland,” he told Mirror Sport while promoting his book Carl Frampton: My Autobiography.

“One of three from Ireland to do that – myself, Steve Collins and Katie Taylor. I tried for a third weight, it didn’t work out, but that doesn’t bother me any more.

“I’m happy. I’m never going to say I’m the best fighter Ireland has ever produced. I may have if I had become a three-weight world champion. But I’m not a three-weight world champion and I’m just happy to be in the conversation.”