Aside from winning world championships at two different weights, one of Carl Frampton's greatest success has been his ability to transcend sectarian differences in Northern Ireland. Frampton was raised in Tiger's Bay, a staunch loyalist area, but the boxer has not had his life defined by division. Instead, he has said he has gone the "opposite direction": he has married a Catholic girl, and his coach Barry McGuigan is a Catholic too. He told The 42:
I married a girl who I fell in love with, not just because she was a Catholic and I’m a Protestant. I just fell in love with a girl and married her. I think it’s how I was brought up really. I was brought up in a family who never really cared about divisions.
While Frampton has brought a level of unity to Belfast among many of his supporters, some still cannot see past the divisions of the past.
Frampton was pictured wearing an Antrim GAA jersey yesterday:
Great to see you in Saffron @RealCFrampton 👌 pic.twitter.com/flrecNGoBe
— Antrim GAA (@AontroimGAA) April 5, 2017
While this was taken in perfectly good humour, some couldn't accept it, with one fan tweeting that he no longer supports Frampton "now he belongs to the other side", and "urged all Loyalists to himself":
Frampton responded directly:
Hey boy, anymore talk like that and you'll get this around the coupon pic.twitter.com/5pQ1iCF0pJ
— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) April 6, 2017
Naturally, once tweeters saw that Frampton was willing to respond, he was inundated with more tweets, with one crossing the line in Frampton's eyes, as it photoshopped him in a Linfield jersey:
Right, I'm always up for a laugh. But someone has taken it way too far pic.twitter.com/DQZIymUYHv
— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) April 6, 2017
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