but floored Martinez in the second with a fierce uppercut and followed up with a further barrage until referee Terry O'Connor intervened, retaining his world title in the process. Quigg vs. Frampton Five years in the making, Quigg and Carl Frampton (21–0, 14 KOs) finally faced off on 27 February 2016 at the Manchester Arena in a super bantamweight title unification match. WBA (Super) champion Guillermo Rigondeaux had been downgraded to "champion in recess", with the newly vacated Super title being on the line along with Frampton's IBF world title. It was officially confirmed in November 2015. The fight went full 12 rounds, in front of 20,000 fans, as Quigg suffered his first professional loss, via split decision. Frampton was in full control of the first half of the fight, during which Quigg simply could not find his range. Quigg finally came alive in the last half as the contest turned into a desperate tussle, but Frampton gave as good as he got. Levi Martinez scored it 115–113 for Quigg, while Carlos Sucre and Dave Parris scored it 116–112 in Frampton's favour. This was Quigg's first defeat in 34 professional fights, stretching back to 2007. Although there was no rematch clause in the contract, there was a verbal agreement that they would do it all again in Belfast if the first fight warranted it. After the fight, Frampton claimed Quigg has little chance of a rematch because their fight was boring and Quigg was so negative in dropping a split decision. Instead stating he would like to move up to featherweight and challenge Leo Santa Cruz in the US. A month later, Frampton was stripped of the WBA (Super) super-bantamweight title after failing to negotiate a first defence against "champion in recess" Guillermo Rigondeaux. Quigg had to undergo surgery after suffering a broken jaw during the fight. Featherweight After recovering from the jaw injury he sustained against Frampton, Quigg announced, like Frampton, he would be moving up to the featherweight division, where he would also pursue a rematch at some point in the future. His trainer Joe Gallagher confirmed Quigg would return to the ring on 10 December 2016 on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina. Although an opponent was yet to be announced, Quigg said he wanted to fight the big names of the division. On 24 November 2016, Mexican boxer Jose Cayetano (20–4, 9 KOs) was