Andy Lee will make the first defence of his WBO world middleweight title against American Peter Quillin in New York on 11 April.
Lee's mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders has agreed to stand aside and allow the Limerick southpaw to make a voluntary defence against the undefeated Quillin (31-0-0), who previously held the belt.
Quillin made three successful defences before vacating the WBO title, which allowed Lee (34-2-0) to win it when he knocked out Matt Korobov last December.
"I could have decided to fight in Ireland and maybe fought Billy Joe Saunders. Peter Quillin is the best challenger out there for me to fight," Lee told Newstalk.
"Outside of Golovkin, he is the highest rated middleweight out there. It means a lot to me to fight the best.
"The winner of this fight will be definitively recognised as champion and we've been dancing around each other, so to speak, for a while and it was only a matter of time before we crossed paths. Now we're going to find out who's the better fighter."
Saunders will also appear on the bill and will fight the winner,
most likely during the summer in London.
"I want to prove that I’m the best in the world and I believe that I can beat Lee or Quillin right now,” Saunders said in a statement.
“Frank’s right in that the fight between me and Lee, if he defends his title against Quillin, will be a massive fight and needs to be held on the biggest stage and that’s a football stadium, the fight will only get bigger and bigger, so the timing needs to be right and it needs to wait until the summer.”
