Lee Selby wants big fights – eyes Frampton unification

Lee Selby has come in for some flak for his first two defences of his IBF featherweight title.

Selby won the belt last May with a brilliant performance over Russian reigning champ Evgeny Gradovich. Since then,some have argued that Fernando Montiel and Eric Hunter have been less than stellar picks for World title defences.

The Barry 126lber admits that he requires a signature win over a big name, and is targeting the big stars of the division which, of course, features Belfast’s Carl Frampton.

The Welshman told Sky Sports that “I need to get a win over either Russell Jr, Santa Cruz or Frampton.”

“That will catapult me to the top or very near to it. I want all the champions at featherweight.”

Surveying the current landscape at featherweight, Selby points out that “myself, Santa Cruz, Frampton, Cuellar, Mares and Russell Jr are all advised by Al Haymon so all those fights are in-house and could be easily made.”

“If I could beat one of the American-based fighters over there, I’d turn into a big star over there because they’re big names.”

However, the ‘The Welsh Mayweather’ is hoping that Frampton can grab a win over WBA champ Santa Cruz to build a domestic World title unificationclasg down the line, although most likely not in either of their next respective fights.

“My next opponent will be a top-class fighter and beyond that, I’ll most definitely be targeting the winner of Santa Cruz against Frampton.”

“If Frampton wins then we can have a massive unification fight over in the UK.