Carl Frampton awarded honorary degree from QUB

Belfast sporting hero Carl Frampton MBE is among 15 individuals from the world of business, science, sport, academia and the arts being honoured by Queen’s University in 2017.

Frampton has certainly earned the honour, becoming the first professional boxer from Northern Ireland to hold world titles in two weight classes, including featherweight and super-bantamweight. He has become a household name in both the UK and Ireland, and his October rematch with Santa Cruz in Las Vegas peaked at 643,000 viewers, according to ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

Part of why everyone is so taken with Frampton is his down to earth nature. His response on twitter to being honored with distinction in sport proves that he continues to act with humility, while also highlighting his ability to laugh at himself.

Another Northern Irish sporting star on the list was Four-time Paralympic gold-medallist swimmer, Bethany Firth MBE. The swimmer hails from Co. Down and has competed for both Great Britain and Ireland since 2012, taking part in the London Paralympic Games, Rio Paralympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. Both her and Frampton will receive an honorary doctorate for distinction in sport this year.

Bethany receiving her third gold medal at Rio 2016

According to the QUB website, those honoured are individuals who have achieved high distinction or given significant service in one or more fields of public or professional life, and who serve as ambassadors for the University and Northern Ireland around the world.