Former world champion Paul Butler wants to fight Ryan Burnett and become a two-time champion, says trainer Joe Gallagher.
‘The Baby Face Assassin’ has recently teamed up with Gallagher’s stable, and the pair have plotted a path which will hopefully see them fight Northern Ireland’s WBA ‘super’ and IBF bantamweight champion next summer.
“We’re ready to go and fight Ryan Burnett,” Gallagher said to Boxing News.
“We’ll have that in the summer time, Belfast, wherever they want to put it. That’s a fight that would be good to have.
“We need that type of fight.”
Butler and Gallagher had previously targeted a fight against WBA ‘regular’ champion Jamie McDonnell, but the Doncaster fighter has said he will move up in weight following an unsatisfactory ‘no-contest’ against Liborio Solis last month.
The belt which McDonnell holds is therefore set to become vacant, and Gallagher thinks a fight between Butler and Solis is the perfect way to prepare for an eventual bout against Burnett.
“I think Solis is great preparation for Ryan Burnett,” Gallagher said. “And Ryan Burnett can deal with [Zolani] Tete in the meantime.
“He [McDonnell] made the weight and now he’s moved up and he’s going to a division really where I can’t see where the big money fights are for him in the super-bantamweight division.
“I just thought he could have stuck around for one more for Paul Butler, which is a huge domestic fight.
“So the plan is to get Solis February.”
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