by David P. Greisman

Carl Frampton believes his signing with powerful boxing adviser Al Haymon could open up the door to fights with a few of Haymon’s top featherweights. But what about the best fighter in Frampton’s division, 122-pound champion Guillermo Rigondeaux?

“I think the Rigondeaux fight is a great possibility. There’s rumors that he may be linking up with Al Haymon. If he does link up with Al Haymon, then of course the fight would be easy to make,” Frampton said. “I believe I could win. You look at Rigondeaux, I completely admire what he does and his fighting style. But I think I’m the only man in the super bantamweight division that can beat him.”

Rigondeaux would likely need such a signing himself in order to get back to prominence. He became champion when he topped Nonito Donaire in 2013, but his then-co-promoter, Top Rank, soured on him afterward and then looked down at him even more after a desultory decision win later that year over an unwilling Joseph Agbeko.

Rigondeaux went on to finish out his contract with a first-round knockout of Sod Kokietgym in Macau in July 2014, then won a technical knockout of Hisashi Amagasa last December. He’s been in a dispute with his manager, Gary Hyde, who told reporter Michael Woods that their contract runs through February 2016. Rigondeaux’s remaining promoter is Caribe Promotions.

As for Frampton, he first has a fight July 18 with Alejandro Gonzalez. They will be the main event of a late afternoon/early evening “Premier Boxing Champions” card being shown from El Paso, Texas, on CBS in the United States. This is Frampton’s first bout under Haymon.

Frampton is 20-0 with 14 KOs. He won his world title with a decision over Kiko Martinez in September and then defended it this past February with a stoppage of Chris Avalos.

Gonzalez, 22, is 25-1-2 with 15 KOs, with that lone loss coming by technical decision against Juan Alberto Rosas back in April 2104. Gonzalez has won three in a row since.

Their fight will be preceded by a bout between heavyweights Chris Arreola and Fred Kassi. The card is part of a day-night show, with a Showtime broadcast emanating from the same arena later that night and featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. against Marcos Reyes.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com