By Terence Dooley

Chris Avalos, 25-2 (19), claims that a win over IBF Super bantamweight title-holder Carl Frampton on Saturday night would change his life and help him buy his parents a new home.  The 25-year-old California-based boxer meets Frampton, 19-0 (13), at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on Saturday night live on ITV—the network’s return to live boxing—and has told David Kelly of the Belfast Telegraph that he was unimpressed by the 28-year-old’s world title win over Kiko Martinez in September.

"Victory over Frampton would change my life and not just my life but my kids' lives and my whole family's lives—it would be an awesome victory.  I'd buy my mum and dad a new house,” he said.

He added: “I didn't think that fight between Frampton and Kiko was anything special, I couldn't even stand watching the fight.  I sparred with Kiko and I did the same thing Frampton did, I beat his ass with boxing.  And I'm way stronger than Martinez and way stronger than Frampton and when I hit Frampton he's going to run because he's going to feel my power and unlike Martinez, I'm not going to run him down.  We've seen a lot of flaws in Frampton's movement and what he gets caught with and that gives me confidence—I know this dude, he's not going to be able to take my power.”

Frampton, though, will have other plans.  The Avalos fight is a chance to impress a wider audience on terrestrial TV and move ahead of Scott Quigg in the popularity stakes.  WBA Regular titlist Quigg has claimed that the Irishman doesn’t draw any water in England, but an impressive win, not to mention healthy viewing figures, would provide “The Jackal” with a strong counter argument as the two fighters continue to jostle and jockey for position without coming any closer to an IBF and WBA World unification bout.

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