Carl Frampton has undoubtedly endured the most frustrating year of his glittering career so far throughout 2017. 

The Belfast native reached the pinnacle in 2016, becoming a two-weight world champion when outpointing Leo Santa Cruz in a thrilling Fight of the Year contender in July last year in New York. 

This followed on from a strong display to outscore long-standing rival Scott Quigg in Manchester too. 

His impressive efforts in the ring saw him pick up Fighter of the Year honours as well, from The Ring Magazine, the Boxing Writers Association of America, and ESPN. 

‘The Jackal’ has since been stuttering in 2017, first losing his WBA featherweight crown in a rematch with Santa Cruz in Las Vegas, before seeing his scheduled homecoming Belfast clash with Mexican Andres Gutierrez scuppered due to an untimely injury to the latter fighter.  

After such disappointment, Frampton has also parted ways with long-time mentor and manager Barry McGuigan and coach Shane McGuigan. He left Cyclone Promotions and has since teamed up with new trainer Jamie Moore, MTK Global, and Frank Warren. 

Next up for Frampton is his long-desired homecoming bout and he will come up against another Mexican in Horacio Garcia, who was recently confirmed as the opponent for a stacked card at the SSE Arena in Belfast for November 18th. 

It may be somewhat of an underwhelming opponent for Frampton but he is aiming to get back on track ahead of next year when he will attempt to revive his career and target another world title shot against one of the big names.  

Though bookies like Betsafe are more concerned with Bellow vs. Haye II at present, the now 30-year-old Frampton is seen as the front-runner for success in the online betting markets for what will be the 25th professional outing of his career, with a win being somewhat of a formality in his own backyard this coming November fight night.

But who could the popular Irishman contest after his latest opponent next year? There are a host of names in the fray from featherweight to super-featherweight, with Frampton having previously outlined potential intentions of challenging for a third division world title too.  

Carl Frampton & Ian Milne.jpg by Sinn Féin (CC BY 2.0)

The most obvious name is Santa Cruz, with the Belfast fighter keen on securing a third date and rubber match with his first and maiden conqueror from January this year.  

Santa Cruz changed his gameplan for the second scuffle perfectly to earn a points win over Frampton and gain revenge but didn’t stay true to his word in going to Belfast for a trilogy fight. A third meeting between the pair could take place next year, though, likely in America if the Mexican has his own way (again). 

IBF featherweight titleholder Lee Selby has long been desiring a clash with Frampton and that intriguing match-up could also come to fruition in 2018. That could finally arrive at Windsor Park in Belfast, a stadium which Frampton has outlined as his dream venue.  

Meanwhile, other division champions Oscar Valdez and Gary Russell Jr would provide testing and highly entertaining pairings for Frampton too, as his new promoter Warren aims to line up the big fight nights for his new client ahead of a hopefully more successful 2018.