WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) expects to fight by April of next year, but he won't confirm if Terence Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs) will be the actual opponent in the other corner.
Crawford, who unified the entire junior welterweight division, has been listed down as the mandatory challenger to Horn's title by the World Boxing Organization.
Horn was in action earlier this month, when he pulled off a stoppage victory over British contender Gary Corcoran.
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Crawford and has a fight option remaining on Horn, wants to match them on April 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
But Horn may have other ideas, depending on the money that's placed on the table - as a fight against countryman Anthony Mundine is waiting for him.
"There's a lot of water to go under the bridge yet before we determine who our next opponent will be," Horn said to the Sydney Morning Herald. "I've told Glenn Rushton, my trainer, that I should be able to get ready for a fight by about April 20 next year. I don't know if that will be the Terence Crawford fight straight away. I'm due for a mandatory against him in April. We'll see."
And, Horn would also prefer to fight at home.
The Australian Olympian crashed on the scene in July, when he upset heavily favored Manny Pacquiao with a twelve round unanimous decision to capture the WBO title before a crowd of 51,000 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
He would like to fight bring Crawford to Brisbane, but doesn't rule out the possibility of fighting on foreign soil.
"I would always prefer to have that fight here but, again, there will be quite a bit of negotiating to get through before that is determined," Horn said.
"I see fighting at home as a big advantage. Your opponent has to fly all the way over to Australia, sit on the plane for all that time, and come to a hostile environment. Meanwhile, you don't have to travel at all and everything is on your terms on home turf.
"I would love the next fight to be in Brisbane again. But if it isn't, so be it. I'll try and find a positive in it. I was able to do that this time around."