Liam Smith has been promised a fight with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez if he successfully defends his WBO super-welterweight title on Saturday.
The 27-year-old will be the favourite when he faces Predrag Radosevic in the second defence of his title and, should he succeed, is in line for the most lucrative fight of his career.
Mexico's Alvarez convincingly stopped Amir Khan in six rounds in Las Vegas last month to retain the WBC middleweight title and demonstrate his status as one of the sport's highest-profile figures in the absence of the retired Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
It was widely hoped he would next fight Gennady Golovkin in a unification fight, but he instead chose to vacate his title, which has since been awarded to Golovkin, already the holder of belts from the IBF and WBA.
Press Association Sport understands there has been significant contact between the two camps surrounding a potential fight in Vegas in September, when Alvarez next hopes to fight. An agreement is considered close to finalised, on the assumption Smith performs as he is expected to.
By officially returning to super-welterweight - his defence against Khan was at a catchweight of 155lbs - to challenge Smith for his title, Alvarez can further delay the dangerous fight with Golovkin which he says he wants but will not be rushed by "artificial deadlines".
He will also hope winning the WBO title will lead to unification fights against the 154lbs division's other champions, the Charlo twins Jermell and Jermall, and Erislandy Lara, who he has already overcome.
Smith has in the past been linked with a fight with Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto, who has not fought since losing to Alvarez in November.
Fighting the Mexican would represent the biggest and most unexpected opportunity of his career, against one of the world's most popular fighters.
