Junior Fa and his team are negotiating what they are calling the "ultimate" fight for next year which they say will put him on the world stage.
The Kiwi heavyweight, who last night extended his unbeaten record to 16 victories with his first-round stoppage over the hapless Argentine Rogelio OmarRossi in Christchurch, said the fight could happen in the United States in March or April next year.
He and his manager Mark Keddell were remaining tight-lipped on a possible opponent, but the logical conclusion is that he is WBC world champion Deontay Wilder.
Fa and Wilder are both promoted by American Lou di Bella, with the pair recently training together ahead of Wilder's controversial draw against Tyson Fury in Los Angeles recently.
Wilder is in talks with Fury over a rematch and also with WBO, WBA and IBF champion Anthony Joshua but neither of those two fights will be straightforward to make and the American could see Fa as a good back-up bout.
On last night's evidence it's difficult to know whether Fa would be ready for such a challenge because Omar Rossi, a former cruiserweight who has fought only seven times in the last seven years, put up little opposition.
On the main undercard bout to Joseph Parker's clash against Alexander Flores, Fa struggled to find his range early but when he did the fight was effectively over. A nice straight right hand found a home on Omar Rossi's jaw and down his opponent went.
Keddell said afterwards: "We're negotiating a big fight at the moment so we'll see how that goes. We have some business to do that's probably not to do with Joseph Parker for a couple or three fights and no doubt our profile, if all things go to plan, will be rather high. He will be at the same type of level [as Parker].
"We're talking the ultimate of the ultimate – and we're getting pretty close."
Junior Fa knocks out Rogelio Omar Rossi. Photo / Photosport
Fa, who was hampered by severely bruised knuckles in his right hand and an elbow problem – suffered in sparring – needed an emphatic finish after disappointing recent performances, and he got it.
"I know that I rushed things a bit," he said. "Right now I probably rate myself a seven or a six.
"I could feel my right hand connecting clean. I saw a little bruise on his nose and a lot of blood coming out of it – a possible fracture. So then I smelled blood and went for it. I possibly rushed it but I got the result I wanted."
Keddell added: "We would have liked a tougher fight but Junior was in the mood to be dangerous."
Fa also overcame mental adversity. He is close friends with the family who lost their four-year-old daughter to the scrum machine accident near the Manurewa Rugby Club recently and Fa made a heart-felt tribute in the ring afterwards.
"As soon as it was finished all of the emotions came in at once," Fa said. "I cried and felt all the sadness. I'm still sad right now. I saw the family's child sprinting around church last Sunday. It's a very sad thing to know that I'm going to go home and I'm not going to see their daughter any more."
A fight with Kiwi heavyweight rival Parker remains a possibility for next year too. The pair spoke at the final media conference of the week on Wednesday and Fa said relations were cordial but that the same couldn't be said for Parker's team.
"There's not too much tension between us, but I know their team doesn't like me," he said. "Person to person we tend to be fine.
"I want it next year and it's a good thing for his team because it's early," Fa said of a possible clash with Parker. "The longer they wait the more dangerous it becomes for them."
