SCOTT Quigg expects to return to the ring by October and has vowed not to waste any time as he attempts to win back his world title.

The Bury boxer lost his WBA super-bantamweight belt to Northern Ireland's Carl Frampton after losing their world title fight at the Manchester Arena on a split decision in February.

He suffered a broken jaw in the early rounds but says an operation to correct it went according to plan and he is now eager to make up for lost time.

"The recovery is going well," he said at a media event in Bury last week where he was unveiled as a patron for Bury Hospice.

"I have been in and had a couple of x-rays since the operation and it has all gone smoothly.

"I'm going to have the plates out of my jaw at the back end of May, and the target date for my next fight is October 28 at the moment.

"As we stand now, it is healing well and there is no reason I wouldn't be able to get in the ring at that time.

"We want it to be a big fight, we don't want a warm-up for me or anything like that. My aim is to be fighting for world titles again as soon as I possibly can."

Quigg, who trains with Ring Magazine's world trainer of the year Joe Gallagher at Amir Khan's Gloves Community Centre in Bolton, confirmed he has met with promoter Eddie Hearn to plan his next fight.

Frampton loomed large in that conversation. The Northern Irishman has had to give up his WBA and IBF belts after opting to move up a weight to challenge Mexican WBA super world featherweight title holder Leo Santa Cruz.

They are due to fight in New York on July 30.

That could potentially leave Quigg open to fight for the vacant IBF super-bantamweight title, or possibly even seek a match-up with unbeaten WBA super champion Guillermo Rigondeaux.

The Bury boxer admits, however, that he would happily fight the winner of the Santa Cruz v Frampton bout, although ideally he would prefer to settle "unfinished business" with Frampton first.

"I had a meeting with Eddie [Hearn] a couple of weeks ago and there are some big names that we have talked about to start back with," he said.

"But the main thing in my mind now is to get my rematch with Carl Frampton. He has a fight booked with Leo Santa Cruz and I think he will be beaten.

"It might be better for me if he [Frampton] won, because I would like to fight him for a title again.

"But, having been in the ring with him, I don't see him being able to match up to Santa Cruz.

"I have always wanted to fight Santa Cruz myself, because I think I have the beating of him. Our styles would go together really well, and I think it would be a great fight for the fans.

"Ultimately, it's irrelevant who wins between Santa Cruz and Frampton. I have unfinished business with Carl Frampton and I want to fight him again whether he is champion or not."