BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Carl Frampton expects Josh Warrington to provide a much harder test than Saturday's ninth round win over Luke Jackson at Windsor Park.
The two-weight world champion retained his WBO interim featherweight belt when Jackson's corner threw in the towel as Frampton began landing damaging punches.
Frampton (26-1, 15 KOs), who floored Australian Jackson (16-1, 7 KOs) with a left to the body in the eighth round, is now being lined up by promoter Frank Warren for a shot at IBF world featherweight champion Warrington (27-0, 6 KOs), the English boxer who beat Wales' Lee Selby for the belt in May.
Frampton, 31, is keen on the chance to become a three-time world champion after losing the WBA world featherweight title -- along with his unbeaten record -- on points to Mexican Leo Santa Cruz in January 2017.
It is unclear when WBO champion Oscar Valdez, of Mexico, will fight again after breaking his jaw in his last fight in March, so Frampton is expected to face Warrington at the Manchester Arena in December.
"People are talking about Warrington and Valdez, but I never took my eye off Jackson," Frampton said. "I was flying at the end. I was fresh, I could have done another nine rounds.
"Josh Warrington is a different task altogether. He's riding on the crest of a wave at the moment and it's a good fight, not an easy one."
Frampton says it was important he did not get carried away by the atmosphere at the nation's soccer stadium, where 25,000 cheered him on in heavy rain.
The Northern Ireland boxer admits he may only now box in his home nation in the summer months, when outdoor and bigger venues are available, because of the weather -- even though it rained heavily throughout his fight against Jackson. "I didn't get carried away by the atmosphere," Frampton said.
"A cool head in a hot kitchen was the advice I had in the corner and it worked well. The distance was the main thing and the jabs, long and short broke him down.
"The Odyssey Arena is probably too small to come back to so it would have to be the summer months."
Victory over Jackson was also Frampton's first stoppage win since Chris Avalos in February 2015.
"It was good to get it done [the stoppage]," Frampton said. "It was important to break him down round by round and not take him out straight away. I was trying different things in there, which was good."