Now he shares a bill again with his fellow Belfast man, but this time he is the one going for world honours.
Conlan, 31, takes on IBF super-flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas tonight at the SSE Arena in his home city.
Just under four years ago, he was working with one of his brothers, Brendan, for a paving company laying down slabs on the site of the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.
Ranked No 5 in the world at the time, he was out in the cold getting his hands dirty to get a bit of extra cash to help with Christmas.
For some, this sport can be a gruelling battle to make a living out of.
Almost a year later, he fought in a make-shift outdoor venue as Frampton beat Kiko Martinez to become IBF super-bantamweight champion. It just so happened to be at the Titanic Quarter as well.
?I fought on the very spot we paved,? said the unbeaten Belfast man. ?Brendan needed a hand and he asked me if I would work and he would get me two weeks? wages.
?I needed it as it was coming up to Christmas. The wind was coming in off the Irish Sea so it was freezing. I remember thinking, ?Boxing is a lot easier than this.??
It wasn?t the only job he had along the way though.
?I needed jobs from time to time,” said Conlan. “When you had a good run of fights you were training full time but you were relying on fight to fight to get paid and pay the bills.
?I had to pick up a few jobs. I did a bit of tiling, I was an aircraft engineer, I also worked with my brother Brendan at a paving company and I worked in the Royal Victoria Hospital maternity ward as a porter.?
But while he was doing that, he was putting in the hard work in the ring as well.
It has been a tough journey to this point with plenty of lows along the way.
It was also a journey that started out thanks to some persuasion from his dad, John, to go down to St John Bosco boxing club in Belfast with his brother Brendan. Their younger sibling, Michael, would soon follow.
?Brendan wanted to go boxing,? said Conlan. ?I didn?t. I was sent to go look after him. I wanted to play football.
?But my dad told me that Michael Owen went boxing to build up his strength and that?s why I went.
?Owen was small like me, apparently he was pushed off the ball when he was younger so they made him go boxing to gain strength.
?We had to stick at it for a year my dad said and then we could do what we wanted but after a few months we were hooked.?
Irish titles followed including the year when all three brothers claimed victory on a national stage before Brendan opted out of the sport at 16 to explore ?drink and girls? according to his brother.
Then, when both Jamie and Michael reached the Ulster senior flyweight final in 2009, a decision had to be made.
They weren?t going to meet in the ring and the initial plan was for Michael to give his brother the title and a place in the following year?s Commonwealth Games but an offer to turn professional came in.
Michael would go on to outstanding success as an amateur, winning the 2015 world amateur championships as well as an Olympic bronze in 2012, while he is now making noise in America as a professional.
But Jamie was on the professional path since 2009 and soon found out it was not as smooth as some of his paving work. Quitting and sticking to one of his many jobs was seriously considered more than once.
?There were loads of times I considered packing it in,? he said. ?There were more downs than ups.
?I remember having a great win against Mike Robinson in 2013, he was a well-known name at the time and I knocked him out.
?But it was on at 12 at night and it was on three fights after the main event.
?I thought that was going to be the big night but then there was nothing. I had to go back to work to keep me going.
?You?re supposed to rest after a fight but I was working. There were times I was broken mentally and physically but my dream was to be a world champion and I believed in my ability.
?Now I feel so happy. Everything that happens in your life shapes you as a man and your character.
?In those hard times you have to stick by your dreams and keep driving on. It sounds like an American clich? but believe in the dream, chase what you believe in.
