Shakur Stevenson versus Oscar Valdez would be 'a corker' of a fight, according to Bob Arum.
Top Rank CEO Arum reportedly wants to pit the two against one another in April in Las Vegas - which coincides with ESPN's plans to broadcast the annual NFL draft in Sin City.
Canelo Alvarez's teammate Valdez - who in 2021 knocked out Miguel Berchelt after ten rounds in what was considered a major upset at the time - recently courted controversy after testing positive for the banned substance phentermine ahead of his fight against Robson Conceicao.
Meanwhile, Stevenson, 24, is widely seen as the second coming of Floyd Mayweather. In five years as a professional, Stevenson has amassed an impressive unblemished record, with nine of his 17 victories coming by knockout.
Promoter Arum confirmed to World Boxing News WBO super-featherweight champion Stevenson will face WBC titleholder Valdez to unify their belts in their first fight of 2022, with the winner then expected to face featherweight champ Emanuel Navarrete.
He said: “Shakur, I think the fight for him is against Valdez and that would be a corker and I’d love to get that fight done.
“That’s what we’re looking to do, yeah. I think before the end of April.
“Other people in the company are doing the negotiations and I don’t think there will be any roadblocks.”
Stevenson, who spent the weekend partying with Jake Paul, tops the Ring Magazine's latest super-featherweight rankings, after his masterful performance against Jamel Herring.
The Olympic silver medallist put in a dominant display against the former US Marine three months ago at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
After an initial feeling-out process, the American started to turn up the heat as he repeatedly beat Herring to the punch and captured the belt in the process.
Speaking after the fight, he said: "There's only one fight left, the biggest fight in the division.
"Oscar can't keep ducking! It's time to fight!
"Me versus Oscar, there is nothing else to look forward to.
"The 130lbs division needs to unify, so let's get it.
"I want to be a superstar in the sport.
"I take my craft seriously, I am disciplined, I had a strong camp.
"I want to thank Tim Bradley who criticised me and called me boring.
"So I wanted to perform in a fun fight - to show my skills, my defence, my power. I showed everything.
"Around the fifth round, I had landed everything and was winning clearly. Then he tried to come on. I thought: 'I will take a break then step it up later.'"
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