by David P. Greisman

This is not the opportunity Dejan Zlaticanin had originally been waiting for, but it’s a big bout nonetheless, one in which a victory will open doors wide for him.

A year and a half ago, Zlaticanin took out Ivan Redkach in four rounds to become the mandatory contender to lightweight titleholder Jorge Linares. They were supposed to fight earlier this year. Instead, Linares suffered an injury and was stripped of his title.

Instead, Zlaticanin returned nearly a year after the Redkach victory, winning the vacant belt with a three-round drubbing of Franklin Mamani this past June.

His first defense? That’ll come this Jan. 28 against former 126- and 130-pound titleholder Mikey Garcia.

Garcia is only in the second fight of his comeback, returning this past July after two and a half years on the sideline as he sought to get out of his promotional relationship with Top Rank. But he’s the name fighter in this bout. Garcia’s name could help make Zlaticanin’s.

“It’s like Pacquiao fighting Barrera. In my mind, this is the kind of fight we’re looking at right now,” said Zlaticanin’s manager, Alex Vaysfeld, in an interview with BoxingScene.com. “Nobody gave Pacquiao a shot. Nobody believed that Barrera would lose like that and get stopped. That’s what we’re looking at.”

And then?

“A lot of it is going to depend on Al Haymon, what he wants to do,” Vaysfeld said, referencing the famed adviser and de facto promoter. “We basically trust him to lead the way. He knows what he is doing. Thus far he’s done a great job.”

Among the potential opponents are two fighters Vaysfeld expects would come to lightweight from their current junior lightweight stomping grounds: Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters.

Lomachenko and Walters are each signed with Top Rank. Though the company and Haymon haven’t had much of a working relationship over recent years, the settlement of Top Rank’s lawsuit against Haymon is expected to open the door for more deals.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com