Rain, pain and poultry – when Windsor Park hosted Frampton’s last Belfast dance

IBF welterweight world title: Lewis Crocker v Paddy Donovan

Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Saturday, 13 September

The rain poured, but not that many seemed to care.

Saturday, 8 August 2018 was a significant night in the career of Carl Frampton, who topped the bill at Windsor Park in Belfast.

It may not have been his first outdoor show in his home city – that famously came in September 2014 when Frampton won his first world title at the Titanic Slipways – but it would turn out to be his final foray in a boxing ring in Belfast.

If the 16,000 in attendance by the mouth of Belfast Lough survived the bitter cold on a night which is now firmly part of boxing folklore, the rain at the home of Northern Irish football four years later was a walk in the park.

A defence of the interim WBO featherweight title against Australia’s Luke Jackson may not have been top of Frampton’s wishlist for such an occasion, but it remained a huge draw with more than 20,000 packed into the stadium and a ninth-round stoppage for the home favourite.

“People always said ‘it must be a childhood dream to box at Windsor Park’, but how could it be to box at a football stadium? The dream at the start was about winning world titles, but I was lucky and privileged to do both,” Frampton told BBC Sport NI.

“The atmosphere was great. People talk about the rain, but I don’t remember that as we were under a canopy in the ring.

“I remember for the ring-walk, Jamie Moore [coach] told me not to get into the zone just yet, but take it all in. If you looked at my face, I was smiling and happy to be here, before you get in the ring and that changes.

For the fans that packed into Windsor Park, it was not just the sight of Frampton to get excited about as that night also marked the return of Tyson Fury in the second fight of his comeback.

The 10 rounds against the overmatched Francesco Pianeta were entirely forgettable, but the same couldn’t be said for what preceded it.

Then WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder was in attendance to run his eye over Fury, whom he would fight next in the first of their memorable trilogy that December.

At Friday’s weigh-in at the Europa Hotel, the American was in full hype mode, yelling ‘Bomb Squad’ – in reference to his ‘Bronze Bomber’ ring moniker – completely oblivious of his surroundings as the hotel once held the unenviable status as Europe’s most bombed hotel during the Troubles.

If this raised eyebrows, what would follow that evening would enter either infamy or folklore.

Wilder and middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders got involved in an altercation in a city restaurant which culminated in Saunders throwing chicken at the heavyweight before being chased through the Belfast streets by an infuriated Wilder in front of stunned onlookers.

Although the heavyweight hoopla could have overshadowed Frampton on his big night, that added distraction served as a blessing for the Belfast man.

“Fight week was special,” Frampton recalls.

“The fact Fury was on the undercard, I quite liked, as it took a bit of the limelight off me in terms of media obligations, so it wasn’t as hectic for me. It was still my show and it was always selling out regardless.

“Fury’s fight wasn’t the most exciting in the world, but I can say the heavyweight of the time and former unified champion were on my undercard.

Lewis Crocker, who featured on that 2018 undercard when out-pointing William Warburton, is now the star for what is a historic night as he and Limerick’s Paddy Donovan fight for the IBF welterweight title – the first time two fighters from the island of Ireland have contested world honours.

However, it’s not the first world title to be contested at the stadium.

Earlier on that 2018 card, Paddy Barnes sought to win the WBC flyweight title in just his sixth professional outing against Cristofer Rosales.

The three-time Olympian, a close friend of Frampton, was bidding to make Irish history by becoming a world champion in the fewest fights, but despite a bright start, a crunching right hook to the body from the Nicaraguan would end the argument in the fourth round.

“I was still trying to decide what way to fight, ‘will I stand with him or will I box him?’ because I was having success doing both,” Barnes reflected.

“Then he caught me as I was throwing at the same time and I felt the full force of it. Victor Loughlin (referee) started counting but I don’t know why as I was never going to be able to get up.

“That fight I made less than I did against some journeymen, but money comes and goes. Legacy and history was more important than the money and I have no regrets whatsoever.

On Saturday night, Frampton will be on the other side of the ropes as the stars of today go into battle with the prize of the IBF welterweight title – one of boxing’s marquee divisions – in a rematch of a title eliminator Crocker won by disqualification in March.

Some of the all-time greats have reigned in the 147lb division, including Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, all the way back to the great ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson and even Hillsborough native Jimmy McLarnin – regarded as the best Irish fighter of all time.

The significance of joining this club is not lost on the fighters and indeed, Frampton who predicts big things for this weekend’s winner.

“Paddy and Lewis get the chance to fight for a legitimate world title, so in some sense this is a bigger fight than mine,” said Frampton.

“It’s two Irishmen fighting for a world title for the first time; great for the city, great for the fighters and I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s going to be a hard fight for both.