Carl Frampton welcomes Katie Taylor to the two weight world title club
Carl Frampton welcomed Katie Taylor to the two weight world title club by hailing her as a sporting role model.
Taylor increased the amount of Irish two division champions from two to three when she defeated Christina Linardatou in Manchester on Saturday night.
Ireland’s first and only undisputed world champion since the four belt era joined fellow legends Steve Collins and Carl Frampton as Irish two weight champs.
‘The Jackal’, who could put himself on course to become the first and only three weight world title holder if he beats Tyler McCleary in Las Vegas on Novemeber 30, praised the achievement.
The Belfast fighter also hailed the Wicklow woman as a genuine role model, not just for female fighters, or boxers in general, but for sports people in general.
“It was a terrific achievement for her,” said Frampton.
“She’s a terrific fighter and a lovely girl as well and a role model for people – not just women’s boxing in Ireland but sport in general. She has raised the profile of it and she is a credit to herself and her family.”
Frampton has also been open with regard to his admiration for Taylor’s talents. Ireland’s first ever unified champ doesn’t speak after studying Taylor’s performances, he has first hand knowledge of how well the Matchroom fighter can perform.
“Katie was super fast and I felt like, when I was sparring her, she was probably a better boxer than me, if I’m being honest.
“But my strength kind of made her tired and I used to lie on her and push her around and stuff.”
Taylor was a 60kg boxer throughout her amateur career while Frampton won his first Irish Elite title at 51kg before later claiming another, as well as an EU silver, at 57kg.
When asked to give details on what made the now-32-year-old so good, Frampton said Taylor was “so fast, so, so fast, it’s really difficult.”
“She’s very good. I don’t want to say too much because she battered me a couple of times. I tried my best!”
Frampton returns to the ring in Las Vegas on November 30, if you can try and hit the jackpot beforehand with your Jackpot City login.
