As much as Jarrell Miller tries, he will not be standing opposite Derek Chisora for the British fan favourite's 50th professional fight at Manchester's Co-Op Live Arena on December 13.

A trilogy with former WBC interim titleholder Dillian Whyte, who boasts a pair of victories over him in gruelling bouts two years apart, remains the most likely outcome after both featured on the DAZN broadcast of Joseph Parker-Fabio Wardley, suggesting all but some minor paperwork details needed finalising.

"If the contract is right, we'll do it yeah but for right now, it's not," Chisora said with a smirk on stage as Frank Warren and a series of other heavyweight contenders watched on.

Right on cue then, Miller gatecrashed their segment - or did his best to - before Chisora politely ushered him to take a proverbial verbal swing at another of Queensberry's strong contingent standing a few feet away. Earlier in the evening, the brash American told The Ring of his frustration at failing to snare a long-awaited fight on British shores after a shoulder injury in training saw him forced to withdraw from a Wardley fight in June.

Now, the Ipswich man was headlining another card just four months later and within touching distance of an Oleksandr Usyk fight - the very same one he's been calling for.

"I'm not a heartbreaker but what can i say, disappointments happen," Miller said after it emerged this week Chisora personally rejected him from the shortlist of names - which included another former interim beltholder in China's hard-hitting Zhilei Zhang.

"I don't run from no fights, I don't care, I'll fight whoever," Whyte said before Chisora and Warren briefly went back-and-forth on how the paperwork 'has to be right' before promising an 'amazing, explosive' fight between two brawlers chasing one last high.

Warren added: "We want to see the trilogy between these two, they've got history - two great fights they've had."

Whyte won a 12-round split decision over Chisora on December 10, 2016 before scoring a dramatic 11th-round knockout that same month two years later, three days before Christmas. Chisora led 95-94 on two scorecards at the time, though their careers have veered in very different directions in the seven years since then.

After a one-sided defeat by Tyson Fury in April 2022, Whyte built up a patchy three-fight win streak over two years before headlining a card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on August 16.

That night, the noticeably trim 37-year-old was memorably stopped in just under two minutes by 20-year-old talent and The Ring's 2024 Prospect of The Year Moses Itauma, another expected to be on Queensberry's show in north-west England.

BoxingScene reported Friday that Itauma's return would be pushed back to February 7 and here, moonlighting with punditry duties while his gymmate prepared for a career-best outing, he couldn't reveal any fresh news about when to expect him back in action.