Keen to prove he's the real deal, Teremoana Teremoana has fast-tracked his rise by locking in a date with a seasoned New Zealander tipped to finally take him beyond the second round.
The popular Paris Olympian is a perfect 12-0 as a professional and boasts nine first-round knockouts and a dozen stoppages before the third round.
Next, the Australian heavyweight menace will headline a Matchroom Boxing card in Melbourne on November 18 against Kiwi Hemi Ahio (25-1).
Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn said Teremoana had been slated to fight Ahio next year but there was a need to provide his man with a sterner test sooner.
"We seriously have a superstar on our hands in Teremoana and he must close out this year with another big statement," he said.
"I honestly believe he has the tools to become a future world champion."
It comes with unbeaten cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia on the cusp of his own heavyweight debut in a blockbuster clash with former world champion Deontay Wilder in Wales.
Opetaia's team remain in talks with the 40-year-old's camp to stage the fight on the undercard of Tyson Fury's clash with Anthony Joshua at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on December 11.
The option poses a risk to Opetaia's slated cruiserweight unification battle with David Benavidez for May next year, but is viewed as a profile-boosting solution to stay busy in the meantime.
Signed to Dana White's Zuffa Boxing, Opetaia remains in a legal battle with the IBF after the organisation stripped him of their title on the eve of his Zuffa debut.
That court action has caused a chain reaction in the cruiserweight ranks.
No.2 contender and European champion Viddal Riley accepted a fight against unbeaten Frenchman Seydi Coupe instead of waiting to face New Zealand's Queensland-based No.1 contender David Nyika in a potential title fight.
And fellow Zuffa boxer and former bantamweight world champion Jason Moloney is eyeing a fight return in Saudi Arabia next month, although that event remains in doubt following the weekend's deadly Riyadh airport strikes.
Australian Associated Press
