Samoan light heavyweight boxing champion Togasilimai Letoa will emerge in the opposite corner to Sam "The Terror" Rapira on April 2.
The two will square off at New Plymouth's TSB Stadium in the feature bout of the Taranaki Explosion Boxing Fight Night that will also include former national champion James "Batman" Langton against Auckland's Isileli Fa and rookie professional Jarad Mason.
Rapira's fight was finally signed off yesterday after a period of negotiation between the two parties.
"I'm really excited about this as he is the most experienced opponent I've fought to date," Rapira said.
With a 13-2 record, Rapira has a world ranking of 155. However, if he can beat Letoa by an unanimous points decision or technical knock-out, he will drop inside the top 100 which could open up some potentially lucrative bouts.
The task will not be an easy one, though, with Letoa having already amassed 34 professional fights in his career.
While that record stands at 16-17-1, his list of previous opponents is impressive, including former Olympian Soul Pownceby and former world title challengers Blake Caparello and Robbie Berridge.
He has not fought since August last year when he lost to the undefeated Jake Carr in Australia by TKO.
Letoa, a southpaw, has a ranking edge over Rapira at 148.
Having only faced his first southpaw opponent in February, Rapira said there was a lot of work needed to be done in his training to tighten up his attack and defence before he faced Letoa.
"But winning the fight will boost my international ranking, open the door for me to set up other fights, get my name out there and create more opportunities," he said.
Promoter Ashley Smith said an additional professional heavyweight bout wold be announced next week.
The five corporate bouts have already been signed off, with the highlight looking to be former Hurricanes and Japan international rugby player Bryce Robins up against Taranaki league rep Levi McPhee.