Josh Warrington says he wants a unification fight in the USA rather than offering Kid Galahad a rematch.

Warrington, 28, retained his IBF world featherweight title on Saturday with a split-decision points win over Galahad.

Now he wants to face WBA champion Leo Santa Cruz “anywhere in the States”.

“Do you hang about and let the chance to go to the States and test yourself against world champions slip?” he said. “I don’t want to miss the opportunity, I want to keep the momentum rolling.”

British boxer Warrington has only fought outside the UK once before, beating Edwin Tellez in Berlin in 2015, before stretching his unbeaten record to 29-0 in his hometown of Leeds on Saturday.

Warrington told BBC Radio 5 live: “It’s not that I want to avoid Kid Galahad, it’s that I want to go and test myself against the very best, and I thought I deserved that right after I beat Lee Selby to become world champion.

“I could have said ‘give me a steady defence’. I’d have been well within my rights and no-one would have argued, but I went straight into the fight with Carl Frampton and beat him.”

Frampton inflicted the only defeat of Santa Cruz’s career in July 2016 before the Mexican regained his WBA belt in their rematch six months later.

Frampton has not fought since losing last December to Warrington, who reiterated that he is open to a rematch with the Northern Irishman, 32.

“I’ve said that I would love to give Carl a rematch, if he wins a world title, because we had such a good, entertaining fight before,” he said. “But it’s not about that, I want to keep climbing the ladder.

“You’ve got to aim for the top of the tree and I’m hungry to do that. Santa Cruz has the biggest profile and is ranked number one. If you beat him you’re the main man of the division so that’s the one.”

Article courtesy of BBC Sport