Jack Catterall and
Harlem Eubank are finalising a deal that will see the pair clash in a welterweight contest on July 5 at Manchester's AO Arena, The Ring can reveal.
Chorley's Catterall (30-2, 13 KOs) was last in action in February,
losing a close split decision to Arnold Barboza Jr at the Co-Op Live Arena.
Eubank (21-0, 9 KOs), who has made a name for himself fighting on Channel 5 over the past several years under the Wasserman banner,
stopped Tyrone McKenna in the 10th round at the Brighton Centre in his March outing.
Catterall has been looking for a big name to get himself back in the mix at both 140 and 147 pounds since his defeat to Barboza, and Eubank represents the perfect opportunity to do so.
Eubank is the cousin of
Chris Jr and is routinely walked to the ring by uncle Chris Sr for his fights, which have attracted millions of viewers on terrestrial TV.
The Eubank name is hotter than ever in the UK after
Chris Jr's historic unanimous decision win over Conor Benn last month on
The Ring's first ever card at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Over 65,000 fans piled into Spurs' Stadium for their cross-generational contest and the fight generated 620,000 pay-per-view buys worldwide.
Now Harlem, 31, will have his turn at further-etching the Eubank name in history.
Catterall is a crafty, awkward operator in the ring, however, and will represent the toughest test of Eubank's career by far. He holds wins over Jorge Linares, Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis, and arguably should've been made undisputed 140-pound champion in February 2022 when his first fight with Taylor ended in a hugely contentious split decision win for the Scotsman.
Though Eubank's profile has grown exponentially since fighting on Channel 5, his biggest victories have come against lesser opposition in McKenna, Timo Schwarzkopf and Ishmael Ellis.
Sam Jones, Catterall's manager,
told The Ring at the beginning of April: "I know Harlem has had a meeting with his side, we've had very brief chats about the fight, but the numbers have got to be correct for Jack. If we get the numbers that we believe Jack's worth is, then we'll do the fight next, no problem."
It now looks like negotiations are at the finishing line, however, with an announcement expected imminently.