Carl Frampton still feels capable of beating any featherweight on the planet. But for now, Frampton (26-2, 15 KOs) faces Tyler McCreary (16-0-1, 7 KOs) on a bill that also sees Oscar Valdez tackle Andres Gutierrez. "The Jackal" is preparing to kickstart another journey to champion status when he takes on McCreary in Las Vegas on Saturday – live on ESPN+ in association with Top Rank. Having suffered a December defeat to IBF champion Josh Warrington last time out and then suffering a bizarre injury that ruined a scheduled return in Philadelphia, Frampton remains determined to regain a top spot.

 

Frampton said: “Right now, I do not consider myself the #1 featherweight. I still feel I could beat any of the top guys in the division but it’d be unfair to call myself #1 when I don’t have a title. On my day, I still believe I can beat them all. There wasn’t a great deal of difference in how the defeat to Leo Santa Cruz and the defeat to Warrington affected me. Maybe Santa Cruz was tougher because it was my first defeat. If I’m honest, against Santa Cruz, I was expecting to have worked him out by the second fight but he outsmarted me and beat me. I was down in the dumps after that and of course, the same with Warrington. What actually cheered me up after the Warrington defeat was that it was Christmas and the kids were happy. Then I went to Dubai with my trainer Jamie Moore for the New Year. I genuinely never contemplated retirement because of what happened in Philadelphia. I just wanted to get back on the horse as quickly as possible and luckily, I’m fine and over it already.”