British lightweight Sam Noakes will get another world title shot in 2026, his promoter Frank Warren has insisted.

Warren’s comments comes after the 28-year-old fell narrowly short in an absorbing 12-round tussle with fellow first-time challenger Abdullah Mason for the vacant WBO crown during Saturday's stacked "Ring IV" card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Noakes (17-1, 15 KOs) strengthened his reputation on the world stage with a gutsy performance which was enhanced by boxing with a bad cut over his left eye for nine rounds. He was also repeatedly hurt during their back-and-forth encounter.

Top Rank-backed Mason (20-0, 17 KOs) came away victorious to usurp Xander Zayas as the sport's youngest male champion but Warren told BoxingScene he would 'make sure that happens' when asked if Noakes will get another championship opportunity in 2026.

The Queensberry chief also said the Maidstone puncher wouldn't return until April, by which time plenty would have happened within the division.

"Let's see what's around and available," Warren said. "He suffered a bad cut very early in the fight, that gave him a problem - no doubt about that - there weren't nothing in that, if he'd won the last couple of rounds it could have been his, but he boxed extremely well.

"I know he’s a good fighter, been banging on about him for a while now and he showed that in a big way. Moving forward, I believe he has winning a world title in him."

IBF champion Raymond Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) makes his first defence against Andy Cruz (6-0, 3 KOs) on January 24, while there's talk of WBC beltholder Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) moving up in weight to face Ring and WBO 140-pound champion Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) in the first quarter of next year.

There's no news on the future of WBA beltholder Gervonta Davis, after his proposed November 14 exhibition bout with polarising cruiserweight Jake Paul was pulled following more allegations of domestic violence.

Warren's son, Francis, manages Noakes and told BBC Sport post-fight that there was immediate interest in The Ring’s No. 9-rated contender returning with another big opportunity in due course.

He said: "Gilberto Mendoza from the WBA came up to me and said he's getting ranked, Gustavo Olivieri [WBO president] said he'll get another chance, Turki [Alalshikh] loved it, my old man and I are proud of him, Carl Moretti [Top Rank VP of Boxing Ops] said he didn't know Sam had it in his locker, tested their star prospect all the way.

"A new star was born here, although he's not got the result … we've got a new star of boxing in the UK."