By Edward Chaykovsky

Manager Barry McGuigan says IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (19-0, 13KOs) is fired up for his mandatory defense against Chris Avalos (25-2, 19KOs) on February 28th at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

McGuigan already predicted a big year for his man, stating that Frampton will move beyond Avalos into unification fight with either his unbeaten domestic rival, WBA 'regular' champion Scott Quigg, or undefeated WBC champion Leo Santa Cruz. 

Avalos has predicted a one-sided drubbing of Frampton. They traded harsh words at the press conference to announce the contest. McGuigan expects Frampton to come out in fiery force next month.

“If we needed to get Carl fired up, this guy has certainly done that for us and he is training really well and is already sparring. He has been sparring Patrick Hyland, who is a world class operator at featherweight and super featherweight. So he is in great condition already and the fight is two months away. Carl is a special talent and he will show that on February 28. The Odyssey has about 8,800 seats and these will go. Avalos is a salesman’s dream but it will be a sell-out and Avalos will not have been in an atmosphere like it," the manager told RTE.