Carl Frampton is not the only one who could make a name for himself in Belfast tonight. Victory for Frampton would mark Shane McGuigan out as one of the most exciting young trainers in the sport.
The team backing Frampton is all family. Barry McGuigan, the former WBA featherweight champion, is the promoter, Shane, the youngest of his four children, is trainer, while Blain and Jake are involved in the promoting.
Shane, 25, was the one that followed their father into the ring. Trained by his father, he became Ulster senior welterweight champion a little after two years after he took up the sport, but became a trainer rather than turn professional.
“I was kind of disappointed,” Barry said. “It is difficult to get the balance right. I was excessive when I trained him, I probably contributed to burning him out a little bit.
“He is 100 per cent better than I was as a coach, he knows when to push guys, he knows when to back off. I trained the old-fashioned way, just grind everything out, bust your nuts.”
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For the past 14 weeks, Frampton has lived with Shane in a flat in Chelsea, doing the hard work across the Thames in Battersea. “There is always going to be a bit of jealousy because of my name. When I was fighting, it was worse, everybody wanted to be the guy who could knock McGuigan’s son out. I feel far more comfortable doing this than boxing. I loved the training, but didn’t like performing in front of people.”
On Frampton’s big night, do not expect Shane to get nervous, it’s not his style. “I see what he does day in day out in the gym and that is more impressive than what he has shown in the ring,” Shane said. “Dad gets very nervous, I have to tell him to get out of the dressing room, because his nerves can unsettle Carl. I try to be as calm as I can. I get that from my mum, she handles stress pretty well.”