Tony Bellew is set to face David Haye for a rematch on May 5 at the O2 Arena, after humbling him in an 11th round stoppage last year in March at the same venue.

Bellew's entire focus for the moment lies on the Hayemaker but his promoter Eddie Hearn already has eyes on the former cruiserweight champion's next potential opponent.

Hearn is optimistic that his fighter can replicate the same result in 2017 against the ex-heavyweight champion and then he can consider his options in the division of his choice.

The Matchroom Sport boss has hinted that he would like to see Bellew fight former light heavyweight champion Andre Ward.

Ward retired from boxing last September, vacating all three of his lightweight titles, citing personal reasons for his decision to part ways with the sport.

The turn of events came as a shock to the boxing faithful after the American secured a stoppage win over Sergey Kovalev in their June rematch.

However, in recent weeks, there have been fresh rumours suggesting he could be contemplating a comeback at a higher weight.

There were talks of Bellew being a potential candidate to fight at cruiserweight before the 33-year-old decided to call it quits, but it was The Bomber who seemed unhappy with the terms of the contract being offered and instead opted to fight Haye for a rematch.

Speaking during the Haye v Bellew press conference, Hearn said: “[Ward is] flirting with the idea of a comeback already. But I would like to see Tony fight him after this fight. It’s a great fight.

“I know everyone always writes off Tony but at cruiserweight, it’s a tough fight for Andre, a very tough fight for Tony. So we’ll see. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Andre Ward come back.”

The Liverpudlian is also considering the idea of dropping down to the cruiserweight category after the bout against Haye.

Bellew could request for a fight against the current champion without holding a mandatory position and has previously revealed his desire to face Oleksandr Usyk.

According to Hearn, Ward would prove to be a bigger and better rival for the 35-year-old than Usyk or his next opponent Murat Gassiev.

He added: “It’s a less dangerous fight [than Usyk] because Ward isn’t overly dangerous or a huge puncher but he’s technically excellent.

"I think he’d get more credit, Tony, beating Ward than someone like a [Murat] Gassiev, who’s very well known in the fight community but not the wider audience. [Ward] is a big fight," Hearn concluded.