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Former two division world champion Carl Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) is hungry to get back on track after suffering the first defeat of his pro career this past January.
At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Frampton lost a close twelve round majority decision, and the WBA featherweight title, in his rematch with Leo Santa Cruz - who Frampton defeated, also by majority decision - last year at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“I want to prove to people that there’s still plenty left. I’m coming off the back of a loss and I want to prove to people that it was a blip and that it was in no way suggesting that my performances are lessening or anything like that. It was a bad performance, but it was just bad tactics and everything else - I still feel like I can improve, I still feel like I’m in good shape. I’m hungry to beat whoever it is in the next fight,” Frampton told Belfast Live.
Frampton wants his next fight to take place in Belfast, at Windsor Park.
There is no finalized opponent as of yet, but Frampton says the actual date is going to come down at ‘the end of July or early August.'
Frampton is still very eager to have a trilogy fight with Santa Cruz. He realizes what he did wrong in the second fight and feels confident of getting revenge if a third contest takes place.
There were some discussions to stage the third fight, but then the WBA ordered Santa Cruz to make a mandatory defense against Abner Mares.
“We’ve got a date in our head at the moment - at the end of July or early August. There are still a couple of [potential fights] there. There’s one that I know that I prefer, whether that fight happens or not we’ll see. I can’t really say too much about that but I’m hoping to hear something soon," Frampton said.
“I believe that if we do get the rematch with Santa Cruz - that will happen at some point - I believe that I will beat him. I’ve beat him before and the second fight was still relatively close. I didn’t perform - I probably made 80% and didn’t perform. I think if I’m performing and boxing to the best of my ability then I’ll beat him.”
The weight for Frampton's fight is unknown. As BoxingScene.com recently reported, Frampton was taken out of the WBA's rankings at 126 and made his debut in the number #2 position in the WBA's super featherweight top ten.