By Edward Chaykovsky

Jamie McDonnell is hoping to take his career to the next level, by heading to the super bantamweight division and knocking off two-time Olympic gold medal winner Guillermo Rigondeaux.

At the moment McDonnell (28-2-1, 13KOs) holds the WBA bantamweight championship, but he intends to head up in weight to 122-pounds.

Rigondeaux (16-0, 10KOs) has not fought since last November. He was recently reinstated as the WBA's "super champion" at super bantamweight. He initially lost the title due to inactivity, but was able to reclaim his belt after filing an appeal with the sanctioning body.

McDonnell told Sky Sports: "I want the big names because it gives you more motivation to train. Most people write me off anyway so I like to prove them wrong. There's no better way than jumping in with one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. I wouldn't take the fight for a pay day - I genuinely believe I'm going to beat him."

"If you look at what I've won and you look at some of the other world champions, they've not won half of what I've won but they're more recognised. There's not a lot you can do about that but like I said, I'll fight anyone. I'm out there to prove everyone wrong.

"There's not much more I can do than keep getting in there and keep winning but if the Rigondeaux fight comes off, I'll get the recognition then. I'm a massive underdog but that's what I like. I like to get in there and prove people wrong and that's the fight I want.

"I'll fight him anywhere. It's ideal to bring him over here but I've fought in America twice and done jobs on Tomoki Kameda. To leave a legacy, you need to beat top kids and Rigondeaux is the man. Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg shied away from him so what an achievement if I get in there and do a job on him. That's really making a statement. I've got the style to beat him and I've got the height. I'll still be big for a super-bantamweight. Since it was mentioned, I haven't stopped buzzing."