Carl Frampton fighting for more than just titles and belts when he takes on Kiko Martinez in Belfast

• Carl Frampton facing Kiko Martinez on Saturday
• Barry McGuigan is Frampton's manager and promoter
• Fight is for the IBF super-bantamweight title
• Titanic Quarter of Belfast will host the fight

By Jeff Powell Follow @@jeffpowell_Mail

Published: 13:23 EST, 5 September 2014 | Updated: 16:00 EST, 5 September 2014

Unification fights are nothing new in boxing but the divisions Carl Frampton will be fighting to close this Saturday night are more important than titles and belts.

The Jackal is not only bidding to become a world champion but to help heal the sectarian rifts which still haunt he city of Belfast.

Frampton takes on Kiko Martinez for the IBF super-bantamweight title, while challenging the old prejudices which brought decades of strife to Northern Ireland.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Carl Frampton square up to Kiko Martinez in heated weigh-in 

Fight: Kiko Martinez will take on Carl Frampton for the IBF super-bantamweight world title

He does so as a Protestant boy who married a Catholic girl.

It is a Titanic task so it is fitting that it will be undertaken on the site from which that great, if doomed, vessel was launched.

A temporary arena has been erected in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast and it is a tribute to the power for good of which the hardest old game is capable that it will be packed with 16,000 Ulstermen and women of both religious persuasions.

Thus Frampton follows in the courageous footsteps of his mentor.

The great Barry McGuigan, now Frampton’s manager and promoter, defied the worst of The Troubles in reverse wedlock to his protegee, as a Catholic married to a Protestant.

The Clones Cyclone also campaigned for peace while bringing a world championship to Ireland, in his case by defeating the renowned featherweight maestro Eusebio Pedroza in London in 1985.

Carl Frampton squares up to Kiko Martinez in heated weigh-in

Weigh-in: The fight will take place in the Titanic Quarter of Frampton's hometown, Belfast 

Head-to-head: Carl Frampton squares up to Martinez during the weigh-in in Belfast 

Spaniard: Martinez, from Alicante, was unfazed by Frampton's theatrics 

Promoter: Barry McGuigan recognises something of himself in Frampton

McGuigan, who has been married to Sandra for 33 years now, says of young Carl and Christine: ‘He’s a great boxer and a bright kid from a hard loyalist district, she’s a lovely girl with a degree in criminology from a tough Republican area.

‘They offer hope for a new kind of Belfast.’

As did McGuigan himself two decades ago.

Frampton talks just as eloquently about being brought up at a virtual battle-front, in streets where the walls were pock-marked with bullet holes.

As both his ring-wise inspiration and his living example, McGuigan has steered Frampton to the brink of glory in only his 18th fight while offering living proof that the bitterest of enmities can be overcome.

Manager: Carl Frampton's manager ad promoter is Barry McGuigan, who can empathise with Frampton's past

The combine into a formidable force, one which Martinez for all his qualities is unlikely to be able to resist.

Frampton has already stopped the Spaniard once, in the ninth round early last year, and should be able to repeat that achievement, especially given home advantage again.

Martinez regrouped, admirably, to claim this IBF title but Frampton has been getting stronger and better with every fight.

The Jackal’s family – both parents, his pregnant wife and their three-year-old daughter Carla – will be in close attendance.

Opponent: Kiko Martinez's record is fought 35, won 31 (23 by knockout) and lost four

They are likely to see him triumph more quickly if he goes to work on the Martinez body from the start. It was when he stepped up that mode of attack that this opponent began to unravel first time out.

If so, a golden future will open for Frampton in the shape of more traditional title unification fights against Scott Quigg, Leo Santa Cruz and current champion emeritus Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Of itself, this will be the biggest fight in Belfast since McGuigan used to fill the old King’s Hall by uniting rival communities in the name of sport.

The open night air will be electric with anticipation.

Expect exciting victory, inside and outside the ring.

Frampton v Martinez will be televised live on BoxNation this Saturday from 7 pm.

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