By Shaun Brown
Ricky Burns (39-5-1, 13 KOs) could fight in a WBO World title final eliminator on April 9 in London.
The Matchroom lightweight who had been linked to a European lightweight title fight against Edis Tatli could well face Jose Zepeda or Petr Petrov in April.
"We're not taking that [Tatli] fight," Burns' promoter Eddie Hearn told BoxingScene.com on Monday.
'Scene contacted the Matchroom boss after the EBU (European Boxing Union) had set a deadline of today 12pm (Rome time) for purse offers for Burns and Tatli to contest the European belt sometime next year.
"Ricky's now moved up high in the WBO (now ranked 3 with the WBO). So we'll be looking for a final eliminator on April 9. It's Petrov (ranked 2 with the WBO ) or Zepeda (ranked 1 with the WBO). I don't know what they're going to do at the moment so they're just working it all out and chatting internally."
The current WBO lightweight champion is the Frank Warren promoted Terry Flanagan. The unbeaten 26-year-old defends his title next on February 13 at Liverpool's Echo Arena against stable-mate Derry Mathews.
Last week Burns had been linked to challenging for Flanagan's world title next year after quotes form his manager Alex Morrison. The Frank Warren Twitter account @frankwarren_tv responded by saying: "Burns will not be fight [Terry Flanagan] this summer!"
Shaun Brown is Boxing Scene's UK News Editor. Follow him on Twitter @sbrown2pt0. Contact him at sbrownboxing@gmail.com
