Lawrence Okolie has called for an all-British world heavyweight title clash with new WBO champion Fabio Wardley.

Okolie is putting the finishing touches on the preparation for his first outing in Nigeria, which takes place in Lagos on December 19.

There is no opponent confirmed for Okolie, and when The Ring reached out to the event’s organisers with just a week to go until fight night, the situation was described as "to be confirmed."

But Okolie has already set his sights on an ideal next opponent, should he return from the Nigerian capital unscathed.

“Oleksandr Usyk didn’t want to fight Fabio Wardley for whatever reason so he becomes the champion,” Okolie said. “I think he earned it and that’s the fight that I want next if I win this one.

“I think the most direct route to a world title would be Fabio because he's a world champion now. It's a fight that will be spoken about behind the scenes, but I do want that one. ... I think Fabio is a much easier fight than Usyk will be.”

Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) stopped Joseph Parker in the 11th round of their London thriller in October to claim the WBO interim title. When then-undisputed champion Usyk opted to vacate his full title, Wardley was elevated.

Okolie (22-1, 16 KOs), former cruiserweight world champion, had been highly ranked with the WBO but dropped out of their top 15 altogether in November. He remains No. 1 with the WBC, who called for a final eliminator between Okolie and another Brit, Moses Itauma, during their convention earlier this month.

Itauma is set to face Jermaine Franklin in Manchester on January 24 and it is unclear whether or not he will go on to fight Okolie should he win at Co-op Live Arena.

On the WBC situation he said: “That and the WBO are the two main routes for me and I believe by the time we get to summer of next year, I'll be in a world title fight one way or another, WBC or WBO.”

Wardley has been a target for Okolie ever since he stepped up to heavyweight 12 months ago — before the Ipswich puncher even had a belt.

When asked what made Wardley, who has dropped every single one of his opponents to date, an attractive proposition for him, Okolie said: “Well his manager is Dillian Whyte. I didn’t like that. That was the first and most easy reason.

“Secondly, it's because when I watch him stylistically, I think he's very, very exciting and dangerous. However, he's got holes that kind of match up well with my style. For example, if you watch his fight against [Justis] Huni or his fight against Parker, these guys are maybe 6ft 3in, with shorter limbs who are good combination punchers.

“But I just think a longer, more explosive puncher is going to be able to capitalise on his mistakes a little bit better before he gets off his rallies because his rallies are world class. When he starts touching fighters and getting into the mode and the crowd starts screaming, he's fantastic and he'll be a handful for anyone.

"But I think before he gets to that point, if you're able to kind of execute your own game plan, I think it will be a pretty basic night."