LEO SANTA CRUZ has revealed he may end up fighting at weights as high as super-light if he continues to ‘improve as a fighter.’

The unbeaten 27-year-old will defend his WBA featherweight title against former unified super-bantam ruler Carl Frampton at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on July 30.

Having already won world honours at bantam and super-bantamweight, Santa Cruz feels he could potentially keep moving through divisions.

“I’m comfortable at 126lbs. I want to get this win against Carl Frampton and then unify against Gary Russell Jr, Lee Selby or any of the champions. When my body is ready we’ll move up in weight to seek another world title,” he said.

“When I first started boxing all I ever thought about was being a world champion one time. Then after I got there I started pushing my goals. If I continue to keep learning and improve as a fighter, I could go all the way up to 140lbs.”

Frampton is coming off a career-best win over Scott Quigg in February, which saw him add the WBA 122lb title to his IBF belt. He vacated both titles in order to move up and fight Santa Cruz.

His fight with Santa Cruz will mark the first time he has fought above super-bantamweight, and the champion is well aware of the dangers the Ulsterman will pose on fight night.

“I think Frampton will keep his power up the weight classes. He couldn’t make 122-pounds anymore and he’s said that he will be even stronger this time. That’s good. That’s what I want. I want him to feel good so it’ll be a tough and entertaining fight,” he continued.

“He has great skills, great punches and he moves very well. It’s going to be a tough fight for me but I’m going to work hard to defend my belt.

“I see Frampton as someone trying to come and take away everything I worked hard for. I can’t let that happen. I’m going to do what I have to do to get the win.

“He’s a very skilled fighter. He has great power and I think it’s going to be an exciting fight. These are the kind of guys I want to fight. It gives me even more motivation to get in the gym and train hard.”