:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/5393711/137851775.jpg)
European super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez will face Carl Frampton on September 22, according to Irish-Boxing.com, with the fight to be announced officially tomorrow. Martinez has a tune-up fight in Belfast on Saturday, which is probably mostly so that he and Frampton can hype their later bout.
Martinez (26-3, 19 KO) is a legitimately good European-level fighter, a step below world class level, who has won six straight following losses to Rendall Munroe and Takalani Ndlovu in 2009. His first loss came in 2008, also to Munroe.
Frampton (14-0, 9 KO) will have the headline spot at the Odyssey Arena in September, with the card also expected to include Paul McCloskey, Martin Lindsay, Eamon O'Kane, and Jamie Conlan. The 25-year-old is the protégé, more or less, of Hall of Famer Barry McGuigan, who has helped make Frampton a fairly big name at a young age, and with relative inexperience.
Frampton is 3-0 this year, with dominant wins over Kris Hughes, Prosper Ankrah, and Raul Hirales.