Denys Berinchyk was supposed to be fighting in December, making the first defense of his WBO lightweight title against Mark Chamberlain on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch. But when Chamberlain lost to Josh Padley in September on the undercard of Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua, those plans were erased.

Now a number of potential opponents are seeking to fill that void on a future date to be determined.

A few of those fighters’ teams lobbied for the shot at Berinchyk during a meeting of the WBO’s ratings committee at the sanctioning body’s convention in Puerto Rico.

Berinchyk, 19-0 (9 KOs), won the vacant WBO title in May with a split decision over Emanuel Navarrete.

The WBO has William Zepeda ranked first, as do the three other major sanctioning bodies. Zepeda will face Tevin Farmer on November 16 for the WBC’s interim-lightweight title. That could lead to Zepeda being removed from the other sanctioning bodies’ rankings.

Keyshawn Davis, 11-0 (7 KOs), ranked third by the WBO, is scheduled to fight Gustavo Lemos, 29-1 (19 KOs), ranked 13th, on November 8.

“Two top-rated guys,” said the newly elected WBO president Gustavo Olivieri. “Most probably, the winner there will be the mandatory. Most probably. He will be in a better position. We have to see and determine.”

Sam Noakes, 15-0 (14 KOs), ranked fourth, would also like the opportunity, according to his manager Francis Warren.

“He’s more than willing to step up and take that opportunity and that challenge,” Warren said. “So I just want to put everyone on high alert that this guy’s got massive ambition. He’s more than ready to be mixing it with the top guys in the world. We have to keep him busy, so he’s going to fight December 7 in London.”

Noakes will face the unranked 29-4-2 Ryan Walsh.

Then there’s the fighter listed second, just after Zepeda – Raymond Muratalla, who is scheduled to face the unranked, 25-5 Jesus Antonio Perez Campos on November 2.

“Raymond Muratalla and Keyshawn Davis are supposed to be [Berinchyk’s] next opponents,” said Berinchyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk of K2 Promotions. “He is ready to fight anyone who, upon your discretion, is worth being appointed as the mandatory.”

Olivieri said the direction of the division will shake out over the coming weeks.

“We will have to wait and see what’s going to happen, because you got Muratalla there,” Olivieri said. “Most probably those two rated fighters [Davis and Lemos] – the winner will have a stronger position and argument to request a mandatory.”

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.