Joseph Parker has his mind set on Britain, but he still has American Deontay Wilder ringing in his ears.
Parker's immediate fighting future appears to be in the UK where he and his handlers want to cash in on the blossoming heavyweight boxing scene.
A delayed mandatory challenge from Hughie Fury for the WBO title or a tangle with pumped up British cruiserweight Tony Bellew loom as the most likely options.
USA today sports reports America's WBC champion Deontay Wilder is desperate to fight Joseph Parker.
Parker signalled at the weekend he was on his way, tweeting: "See you soon Great Britain".
But all the time WBC champion Wilder keeps calling out Parker, intensifying his challenge on Monday with the help of his co-manager and promoter with the hope of a unification bout in New York.
Wilder, keen to see one dominant champion of the splintered division, envisages the winner going on to fight Anthony Joshua, the big Brit who owns the WBA and IBF belts.
"I want that fight as soon as possible. In July," Wilder told tuscaloosanews.com of taking on Parker.
"I'm looking to come back in July so hopefully we can get a date set in July to get this unification started. It's almost like a tournament a little bit. It makes it interesting for the fans.
"That's the next step. I hope my team and [Parker's] team can come together and we can agree on some terms and let’s get this unification going already."
Parker and his team have a few distractions at the moment with Duco Events co-owners David Higgins and Dean Lonergan working through a split. Just how Parker figures in the rearrangement remains to be seen. But the 25-year-old is in demand and has options.
Wilder has a bit on his plate, too. Wilder is facing a tricky mandatory against Bermane Stiverne, the man he beat in 2015 to claim the WBC belt. Like Parker and his mandatory, it might take some clever negotiation to side-step that again. But Jay Deas, Wilder's co-manager and trainer, believes it is possible.
"I think everybody wants unification. It's always a thing where unification trumps a mandatory," Deas told tuscaloosanews.com.
"We're aiming for Joseph Parker. We would love to fight Joseph Parker in July or August. We'll go wherever we have to go. I think Joseph Parker wants the same thing.
"I think negotiations are ongoing, and I think everybody involved wants it to happen. It's really a matter of finding the right network and finding the right venue and finding the right date and making sure all that matches up."
Promoter Lou DiBell believes the heavyweight ranks need to be sorted out and the unification bouts will do that.
"I think Joshua and Deontay down the road is about as good as it get," Lou DiBell said.
"The heavyweight division is very hopeful right now and it's on the upswing and that's good for boxing. It's heading in the right direction. There's a lot of reason for excitement and optimism. The heavyweight division is in better shape than it's been in in a long time."
He wants Wilder to fight next at the Barclays Centre in the 18,000-seater Brooklyn and the aim is to have Parker as the fighter in the opposite corner.
DiBella said he wants Wilder to fight his next fight in the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York. Wilder hopes that fight is against Parker.
Stephen Espinoza, vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, felt the current state of the heavyweight division had the hallmarks of some of the great eras because it appeared competitive at the elite level.
"What it takes to ascend to that level of superstardom is a good opponent or a good set of opponents. If you look back at sort of the peaks of the heavyweight eras there are usually three or four guys who were at the top tier willing to fight each other. That's what made for the golden eras," Espinoza said.
"Most recently, you go back to the '90s heavyweights and you had Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield. You had a core group of interesting opponents. It wasn't just one star.
"Well, right now what we're seeing is the emergence of that interesting core. Deontay and Joshua and Parker and Tyson Fury potentially if he's able to make it back. All of a sudden over the last 18 months or so, the division's become much more interesting.
"Suddenly it's chaos at the top of the division and everyone is grabbing for a piece, and that's what makes it fun and interesting is when you have a number of guys who can claim to be at the top of the sport."
Photo: PHOTOSPORT (New Zealand's WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker finds himself in the middle of a crowded market full of opportunities).