Frank Warren, promoter for Olympic silver medal winner Joe Joyce, is hoping to nail down a deal for an April fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
The contest would involve the interim-WBO heavyweight title.
And the winner would get a mandatory shot at the victor of the planned full division unification between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Joyce and Usyk collided back in the amateur ranks, with the Ukrainian boxer walking away with the victory.
The outing would be Usyk’s third bout in the heavyweight division, after picking up tough wins over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora.
“Talks are ongoing with Oleksandr Usyk’s team about a showdown between those two around April time. We want it to be for the WBO interim belt with Usyk the mandatory for the full title. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are set to face each other at some point this year for all four major world belts,” Warren told The Daily Star.
“But the winner of Joyce and Usyk will be ready for their shot once those two big men have settled it all. When we signed Joyce we said we could bring him a world title. And I really believe that.
“We know we put him up against rising star Dubois but that proves how we are happy to pit out prospects against each other. The winner was always going to get on the fast track to a world title and it was Joyce who deservedly came out on top. Joyce is an Olympic silver medallist so his pedigree is there to see and he has shared a ring with Usyk before in the World Series of Boxing – an amateur/pro hybrid. That night the Ukrainian came out on top but I believe it will be different this time. Let’s hope we can get the fight on.”