GLASGOW boxer Kash Farooq believes a rematch with Edinburgh’s Lee McGregor is inevitable if both bantamweights continue to progress.
McGregor added Farooq’s British title to his Commonwealth belt in a compelling if contentious bout at the Emirates Arena in November.
Pakistan-born Farooq has since signed a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom group and is expected to fight again in the spring on a title card down south.
McGregor has remained coy about his next move but will be looking to get back in the ring soon to defend his twin titles.
Farooq, though, believes the pair will meet again at some point and that the rematch would be even bigger than the first meeting.
The 23 year-old said: “I’d love more big fights like the one with Lee. And it could happen again. I’m going to stay at this weight. So if he does too and we both keep winning then it has to happen again at some point. I want it so it will come down to their side.
“I think the rematch with McGregor would be much bigger than the first fight. That could have been in an even bigger venue.
“It was two local kids going for it, the best two in the country, and it was a sell-out. There was a lot of hype around that fight. That’s what sells a fight. They could have brought in someone from England or America but it wouldn’t have been the same. But now it depends on Lee.”
Farooq also harbours ambitions of competing in the USA and believes Hearn could make that a reality for him.
He added: “Every fighter in Britain wants to fight in America - whether it’s New York, Las Vegas or Los Angeles. The MGM hotel in Vegas always looks great or maybe Madison Square Garden.
“I want to build my name here first and then go out there and fight. I’d love that. Eddie mentioned it as a possibility so that would be amazing.
“I need to work hard to get there. If you want people to get up at four in the morning to watch you, you need to be a big name. Maybe if it happened now only my friends and family might get up for it. But one day it would be great if I was fighting over there and everyone was tuned in to see me.
“My fights this year will be shown on DAZN in America so that could be the build-up for me going out there one day to box. If I do well next year then my reputation will hopefully grow.
“Mind you, I struggle to get up now for the fights in America. I like my sleep too much so the big fights are always on too late for me. But I always watch it the next morning. I don’t even check my phone first to make sure I don’t see the result.
“And then I watch it on You Tube to see what happened. But hopefully people will one day be willing to get up to see me fight over there.”
Farooq is looking forward to getting back in to the ring soon, with Matchroom expected to announce his next opponent in the coming weeks.
He added: “March or April would be the perfect time to fight again. It would give me five months’ break. I’m ticking over now but we’ll look to get something finalised and step up my training at that point.”
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