Boxer Carl Frampton to receive honorary degree from Queen's University

The Tigers Bay fighter is among 15 people from the worlds of science, sport, business, the arts and academia who will be recognised by the Belfast university in December.

Frampton, who turned 30 last month, will be joined by another Northern Ireland sports star, four-time Paralympic gold-medallist swimmer Bethany Firth. The Seaforde native produced dazzling displays in the pool at the 2016 Parlympic Games in Rio.

Earlier today, Queen's tweeted: "@RealCFrampton Welcome to the class of ‘17! Are you looking forward to December’s main event? #HonoraryGraduate".

In 2016 Frampton wrote his name in the history books as the first fighter from Northern Ireland to win a world title at two different weights. He suffered the first defeat of his professional career in January, losing the WBA featherweight title to Leo Santa Cruz on points in Las Vegas.

Frampton and Firth, both of whom have received MBEs, are being honoured for distinction in sport.