- Jose Zepeda
The 26-year-old California native has history with the WBO champ Terry Flanagan. The two met in July last year for the vacant 135lb strap with Zepeda forced to pull out after the second round with a dislocated shoulder he sustained during the round. The first round was evenly fought and many fans are still undecided what would have been the eventual outcome if the fight lasted longer. Flanagan himself expressed desire for a rematch after the fight and with Zepeda still ranked high in the WBO standings, it would be a creditable opponent for the summer.
- Yuriorkis Gamboa
The 34-year-old Cuban is not the fighter he once was, but he is still capable enough to give Flanagan a tricky night’s work. Known for his speed, explosiveness, athleticism and power, Gamboa was once argued as one of the best fighters in the world. The two-time featherweight titlist has since been struck with promotional problems, lengthy layoffs and getting beat convincingly by Terence Crawford. It may not be the Cuban wizard of old in the ring with him, but ‘Turbo’ would capture a well renowned name on his record.
- Rances Barthelemy
The classy Cuban beat Denis Shafikov to collect the IBF lightweight title last December, his second world title in as many weight divisions. At 5ft 11, Barthelemy is tall for the division and he uses his slick boxing skills to neutralise and beat down his opponents. With Flanagan’s wish to unify the division in his next fight a potential Barthelemy clash will certainly be on his radar. If this fight were to take place then a stumbling block would be the location. Would Barthelemy’s manager, Al Haymon, allow his charge to travel to the UK?
- Jorge Linares
Widely regarded as the best 135lb fighter in the world, WBC champion in recess Jorge Linares was all set to take on his mandatory challenger Dejan Zlaticanin but had to pull out of the fight, citing injury. This means that Linares will be put on the shelf until he recovers, he then has the right to fight for his belt – as Zlaticanin will face Emiliano Marsili for the WBC interim belt. This will mean Linares would be unavailable until the summer, meaning Flanagan’s WBC/WBO unification dream would be put on hold.
- Anthony Crolla
Both world champions, both from the same city and both went to the same school – a fight between Crolla and Flanagan couldn’t be set up any more perfectly. To get the ball rolling, Flanagan’s team reportedly made Crolla an offer of £500,000 for the fight. WBA champion Crolla, realising he had to vacate his title if he accepted the offer, turned the money down to move forward in his mandatory defence against Ismael Barroso. If Crolla gets past Barroso, then the cries for a Flanagan-Crolla match maybe too loud for Queensberry Promotions and Matchroom Boxing to ignore.
