Ahead of their U.S. debut, Shane McGuigan has revealed that Carl Frampton is in the best condition of his life and is only getting better.

In what must be disconcerting news to other fighters in the division, McGuigan told the Belfast Telegraph of the increased strength, ability, and confidence that the Tiger’s Bay boxer has been showing in his fourteen week camp ahead of his IBF super bantamweight title defence against Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. in El Paso, Texas.

McGuigan began by explaining how “since the second Kiko Martinez fight when he won the world title at Titanic, there has been a lot of improvement behind closed doors.”

This improvement has come both mentally and physically. The Belfast man has seen continued benefits from his time in McGuigan’s Battersea gym and “the amount he can lift has gone up – he can do a full squat of 120kg right down to the ground. For a guy that is around 60kg or less that is phenomenal, that’s double his weight and more back.”

Identifying the difference between this camp and the one prior to his defeat of Chris Avalos, McGuigan explained that “In the last camp his weight was staggering but this time it came down very quickly and his performance is up.”

Indeed Frampton’s physical condition astounds McGuigan who described ‘The Jackal’ as “an absolute animal at super-bantamweight, he’s a freak of nature. People like Scott Quigg don’t quite get that message, they just don’t understand what he is like. He’s made of steel and granite – it’s very impressive to watch him in with lightweights and welterweights and working so well.”

Additionally, his trainer noted how Frampton’s self-belief has increased after conclusively proving himself against World-level opposition with the 26 year old explaining that “he was always a confident fighter but there’s a different sense about him now, he’s believing in himself as a world champion. He has that little bit of extra confidence now that he is a champion and he’s going to be here for a long time.”