AS the Jaron Ennis vs. Eimantas Stanionis fight week unfolds in Atlantic City, the mandatory challenger for Saturday night's unification winner could be sealed on a summer's evening at Windsor Park.

The wheels were already turning for Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn, anticipating their ordered rematch to be an even bigger spectacle second time around considering the controversy of their March 1 showdown at Belfast's SSE Arena.

Paddy Donovan was well on his way to a career-best victory but was disqualified in dramatic circumstances, having floored Lewis Crocker with a right hook moments after the bell to end round eight of their 12-round IBF welterweight title final eliminator.

Unbeaten 147-pound champions Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) and WBA titleholder Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) will duel in a IBF/WBA unification with the vacant Ring Magazine title also available, though Hearn told The Ring Ennis will likely move up afterwards.

The Philadelphia-born titlist has repeatedly admitted making the weight is difficult on his growing body, and while other rivals have since moved up to junior-middleweight, it won't be long before he follows them up.

Runaway Northern Irish champions Linfield finish their domestic football season on April 26 but return for a European adventure starting in early July when the 2025-26 Champions League campaign begins, with the first qualifying round ties set for July 8-9 and 15-16.

Hearn held talks with representatives of both boxers last week regarding the date and venue, though the Belfast Telegraph have since revealed the Irish FA contacted Linfield about a possible timeline that wouldn't clash with those fixtures.

Given the extensive planning and logistics involved, Crocker-Donovan 2 would have to be on a "free" weekend where David Healy's side aren't playing a home tie. If successful, it would represent the first boxing appearance there since Carl Frampton defended his interim WBO world featherweight title against Luke Jackson in August 2018.

On-pitch seating brings the capacity up to 25,000 and all things considered, Frampton remained confident they could get a deal done when sharing his thoughts in a column at the weekend.

He said: "Speaking to people behind the scenes, they reckon a crowd of around 15,000 would make that feasible and given how the first fight played out and the fall-out afterwards, I think that number is very possible.

Since Windsor Park was redeveloped, there hasn't been a non-football event there apart from the time I fought there in 2018. From speaking to people at the IFA, I know they want to change that, so this rematch is the perfect opportunity to do so."

Crocker (21-0, 11 KOs), of Belfast, was seen at the stadium last weekend during Linfield's title party following a 2-1 victory over local rivals Glentoran and would again have home advantage against Limerick's Donovan (14-1, 11 KOs) in that instance.