"IT ONLY TOOK A ROUND OR TWO BEFORE THEY REALISED THEY'D BITTEN OFF MORE THAN THEY COULD CHEW IF THEY STARTED ON ME"

In this extract from his new book, My Autobiography, legendary Irish boxer Carl Frampton reflects on his journey into the sport

-  Carl Frampton

They needn't have worried. I never had any fear in the gym. Billy (McKee, was founder and coach at Midland ABC) always used to say it, how game I was, how I never thought twice before getting in the ring with another kid. Others asked a lot of questions before sparring and things like that. Who is the other kid? What age is he? What weight is he? How many fights has he had? I never cared. I was happy to get in with whoever and as it was tough to find anyone as small as me it always tended to be a bigger, older, stronger fella in the opposite corner.

I wasn't a wee hard man on the street. If anything, I was too shy and at that age probably preferred to back down from physical confrontation rather than seek it out. I was never bullied or anything, but like any other kid, you got into scraps. And maybe being so small I could have become more of a target. I think that might have been part of my ma's thinking in sending me to the boxing. But in the club every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I'd move about the ring with all the lads in the area anywhere near my age and it only took a round or two before they realised they'd bitten off more than they could chew if they started on me.