Belfast boxing club Immaculata have hit out at Carl Frampton and suggested he may need "to be more educated on the development of young boxers".
The former world champion used his Sunday Life newspaper column to criticise the Immaculata ABC club after a boxer was withdrawn from a bout at the Antrim 3s event.
The decision meant a young fighter from Frampton's own Midland club was left without a fight, having only had one bout so far in his fledgling boxing development.
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The 'Jackal' suggested the decision was based entirely on the size of the two fighters but Immaculata took to social media to respond to what they believe was unfair commentary.
Immaculata ABC stated: "It’s necessary that the club respond to Carl Frampton's recent article in the Sunday Life where he remarked on a young Mac boxer being withdrawn by his coaches against a boxer from one of his former clubs, Midland ABC.
"We accept the fact that the young kid was disappointed but the same can be said for our kid also.
"As coaches, Elite level boxers are often easier to deal with, they have the fundamentals to compete at a high level, with each boxer capable on their day of outperforming the other.
"Most club coaches spend five nights a week with boxers of different ability and must complete a child protection course and are therefore more experienced on when to let a novice boxer compete or when not to let them compete.
"Part of the reason for us withdrawing the boxer was we were informed that the Midland ABC boxer was well schooled and simply put, potentially a level above the novice three category. Along with this we knew that our boxer was quite raw and needed the right fight to help him develop.
"At these novice events, there are often numerous fights cancelled per night because club coaches make a judgement call that their kid is overmatched. There is a big difference between being overmatched and competing.
"However, novice competition is completely different. Young kids can develop the skills quite quickly while others need time and most coaches know this.
"Yes we do agree with Carl on “the whole point of these tournaments is to give novice lads experience and they both weighed in the same!” but at the same time then health and safety of the kid must always come first.
"Maybe Carl needs to be more educated on the development of young boxers and what club coaches have to deal with. This along with making unfair judgments of our coach's decision for pulling our kid out, when in our opinion was absolutely the right call.
"Hopefully, Carl has realised the mistake he has made with this article and everyone can move forward, respecting him as the champion.
"However, Carl fails to mention the rest of the kids in his article who were either disappointed at being withdrawn or receiving a walkover, only highlighting the one of his former club.
"This did not come because “... was too big”, this came from an assessment of different factors that the Mac boxer was just simply overmatched.
"Boxing in Belfast is quite close-knit, coaches from different clubs are always in close contact, whether it be through competitions or just by organising sparring sessions with each other.
"At the end of the day it’s all about the enjoyment of the sport we all love but as a coach it’s paramount that we protect our kids at all times."
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