Leigh Wood hopes to announce the biggest fight of his career in the next few weeks.
The British featherweight champion is hoping to take the next step in his career having won that title from Reece Mould in February and it has been reported he will meet WBA 'regular' featherweight champion Xu Can in London on July 31, although Wood is not in a position to officially confirm that.
"I've got some big plans. I've got a fight pretty much nailed down," he told the Garibaldi Red podcast this week.
"It's a big one. My biggest to date. I've got to be careful what I say, but it's my biggest to date.
"In the next few weeks there will be more coming out."
The 32-year-old has already held the Commonwealth title and with a record of 24 wins from 26 fights, he says there are still two ultimate goals to strive for, including fighting at the home of his beloved Nottingham Forest.
"Before my last fight I said there are three things I want to do still. Win the British title, box for a world title and hopefully win one and headline at the City Ground, being the first person to do so," he said.
"The British title has been done. The City Ground fight, that has to be massive - either a world title defence or world title shot, maybe an eliminator.
"I'm on track and hopefully with my news I'm announcing soon it could be really close."
Regardless of the venue, Wood admits he will be pleased to be boxing in front of his fans again after coronavirus restrictions prevented that in his win over Mould.
"It makes a big difference. I do sell a lot of tickets and have a big following, especially from Nottingham," he said.
"Normally when you land a few good shots the crowd goes up and you think yeah I like that feeling, or if you press a bit the crowd is on your side and that can sway the judges slightly.
"In my last fight, I knocked him out so I didn't need the crowd for the judges, but it would have been nice to give my fans something back.
"They've been on a long road with me from Clifton Leisure Centre to filling bigger buildings on bigger bills.
"They've been on a real journey with me but I'm confident we'll have bigger nights ahead.
"It's a long road. You start on small bills and build yourself up. Very few get that luxury of not having to sell tickets and build yourself up.
"It makes it all the more rewarding when you get to the destination you're aiming for. It's more about the journey than the destination."
Wood hopes to build on that win under the ongoing tutelage of new trainer Ben Davison, believing his work with Davison is already bearing fruit.
"It makes a big difference. You won't get the same out of every fighter," he said.
"You have to work with trainer and fighter to get to know what works best for them and what doesn't.
"Ben reads boxing so well. He knows what I need to do and how to get the best out of me in training. It's been the best move of my career."
You can listen to the full Garibaldi Podcast now here, or watch it here.
