By Steve Kim

On December 22nd in Manchester, England, Josh Warrington will defend his IBF featherweight title versus the accomplished Carl Frampton. There has already been plenty of chatter about the winner of this contest facing WBO featherweight belt-holder Oscar Valdez.

Valdez's side is certainly interested in such a clash.

"Absolutely," said Frank Espinoza, the manager of Valdez. "We've always stated that Oscar wants these type of fights, the biggest names in the sport and unification bouts. We think either one would be a great match-up and I know those are the type of bouts that get Oscar excited."

Valdez, who suffered a fractured jaw in his last outing on March 10th versus Scott Quigg, is now training under the direction of Eddy Reynoso.

Espinoza added, "but those fights come at a certain cost, the last fight is a great example. We expect to be well compensated for fights of this nature. Oscar has certainly paid his dues."

Valdez (24-0, 19 KO's) is slated to return in mid-January on ESPN. The bout between Frampton and Warrington has been picked up by the network's streaming service, ESPN+.

Frampton has won three in a row since losing a close twelve round majority decision to Leo Santa Cruz in January 2017. He battered and stopped Luke Jackson in nine rounds in August.

Warrington shocked the odds in May, when he pulled off a twelve round split decision over Lee Selby to capture the IBF title. Selby had been champion since May 2015 and widely viewed as the favorite to win.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.