Barry McGuigan admits Carl Frampton is not ready for Guillermo Rigondeaux, but backs him to beat the other world champions at super-bantamweight.
Rigondeaux holds the WBO and WBA belts following his points win over Nonito Donaire in last weekend's unification clash.
Frampton has world title ambitions of his own and is closing on the division's big names after taking the European title with a dramatic stoppage win over Kiko Martinez in February.
McGuigan, who is Frampton's manager, is confident that the Belfast man can make the step-up to world level, but feels he needs a few more fights before pitting his skills against the classy Cuban.
He told the Ringside Toe 2 Toe podcast: "Few things about Rigondeaux, he's going to be hard to promote. He doesn't draw a big crowd. He's the chairman of the who needs him club.
"From my perspective Carl's not ready for him yet, so we need another year at least to develop Carl.
"It's all about picking the right fights at the right time for your fighter as he comes up through the ranks. Carl's ready to box any of the other world champions, but Rigondeaux is a class act.
"I think he is a wee bit out of our reach at this stage, but he won't always be. At the moment Carl's not ready for him."
