Liam Paro will risk his world title shot against Josh Taylor when he takes on Brock Jarvis in a fight dubbed the biggest domestic stoush since Anthony Mundine beat Danny Green 16 years ago.
No.2 in the WBO's super lightweight rankings, Paro's camp has spent nearly two years in negotiations for a shot at Taylor's belt.
That should come for the 26-year-old if he improves to 23-0 against Jarvis in Brisbane next Saturday, the pair headlining a stacked card that marks the arrival of Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing in the country.
Paro signed with Hearn after winning in his American debut last December, while Jarvis (20-0) is also fresh off a win in the United States and boasts 18 stoppages under the tutelage of Australian great Jeff Fenech.
The October 15 event will be the first time South Bank's 2000-seat Piazza, slated as Brisbane's 2032 Olympics 3x3 basketball venue, hosts a fight night.
Olympian Skye Nicolson (4-0) will fight Krystina Jacobs (6-3) for the vacant Commonwealth featherweight strap while undefeated heavyweight Demsey McKean (21-0, 13 KOs) takes on Germany's Patrick Korte (18-1-1, 15 KOs) for the vacant IBF Intercontinental crown.
The headline act has been a long time coming, English heavyweight Hearn's arrival in the Australian market enough to make the match.
Not since Mundine (27-3 at that stage) fought Green (21-3) in 2006 have two Australian boxers enjoyed a maiden encounter boasting such impressive resumes.
"That's why domestically it's the biggest stoush I can remember (since Green-Mundine)," Paro's trainer Alfie Di Carlo told reporters on Friday.
"Young, at the top of their game, putting it all on the line.
"It is a gamble because we could sit pretty and wait for the world title."
And if Paro loses?
"The title shot is gone, instantly," Di Carlo said.
But Paro said it would have "been silly" to pass up the chance to end a 10-month absence from the ring and headline a Hearn card.
"People say I've got a lot to risk but I am not scared to lose," he said.
"I'm putting it all on the line and it makes sense.
"(The Piazza has a) colosseum feel, I can't wait to go to war here."
Paro's profile in Australia doesn't match his standing in the sport but he's hopeful a date with Fenech's Sydney prodigy changes that.
"A lot of that's come from his trainer," Paro said of Jarvis's profile.
"But his trainer's not in there fighting for him, so we'll have to wait and see if the hype's real."
