Scott Quigg’s defence of his WBA super-bantamweight title will take place against Kiko Martinez, after talks to arrange the bout against Carl Frampton broke down.
The Bury man, 26, will take on the former world champion at the Manchester arena on July 18.
It was highly-anticipated that Frampton, who took his IBF title from Martinez last September, would fight Quigg this summer.
But talks failed between Quigg and the Northern Irishman following Eddie Hearn’s public £1.5million offer for the fight.
Quigg said: “We know what Kiko brings, he’s been in everyone’s backyard and this is the toughest fight of my career – but there’s one thing I know, I will beat him on July 18.
“He’s strong, he comes forward and he’s a big puncher. It will be the best performance of my career and it will need to be, I predict a devastating victory.
“This is a dangerous fight and those are the ones I want. It’s the type of fight that you get out of bed for your morning runs for – the fear of losing that World title makes me work even harder.”
Martinez has twice been beaten by Frampton who is still expected to defend his IBF title in the summer.
