World level operators like The Ring’s No. 3-ranked 147-pound fighter, Jack Catterall, former IBF champion Lewis Crocker, and Conor Benn lead the way. They are followed by the likes of Conah Walker and Jack Rafferty, boxers who have grasped every opportunity that has come their way and put themselves in line for big fights.

Just behind them sit the unbeaten but terminally avoided pair of Elliot Whale and British and Commonwealth champion Constantin Ursu.

Whale (14-0, 9 KOs) is a strong southpaw with the power and nous to finish fights.

Ursu (15-0, 6 KOs) is a strong southpaw with the power and nous to finish fights.

Both are unbeaten, widely respected by their peers and supremely confident in their own ability. Neither can find a name opponent interested in fighting them.

Whale has a solution: They should fight each other.

“I think Ursu's in the same boat as I am, really. Obviously, he won that belt, and not many people want to fight him, but I don't know why. I really don't know why,” the 28-year-old from Kent told The Ring.

“I feel like when you're in that sort of position, and you're top-10 ranked, on any one given day you can beat anyone, so I don't see why people don't want to fight him and get a chance to fight for all the belts that he's got.

“I don't feel sorry for him because I'm in the same boat, but I find it a bit weird. I'll jump at the opportunity to fight him. If I get made mandatory, I'll definitely fight him. I think he's fighting Ben Vaughan as a voluntary, so that's a decent fight, and I’d like the winner."

Whale is currently negotiating an extension to his promotional deal with Boxxer and also works with Goldstar. The latter relationship helped him secure a spot on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s win over Arslanbek Makhmudov in April. Whale opened the show at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and stopped the solid Tom Hill in four rounds.

In an ideal world, more people would have seen Whale perform, but the whole experience was a useful foot in the door.

Later this year, it is widely expected that Fury will fight Anthony Joshua in a British heavyweight showdown that has been over a decade in the making.

If that massive fight does take place in Britain and Ursu comes through his defense against Vaughan, Whale would love for a fight between the two to land on the undercard.

As well as allowing the promoters to add a quality fight to the most high profile bill in British boxing history, it would also shine the brightest possible spotlight on two fighters who have, so far, spent much of their careers in the shadows.

Whale admits that he plots and plans the various paths his career could take and that facing Ursu on such a show would be an ideal scenario.

“I'm always looking and always thinking, and they're the sort of fights that could happen. Why wouldn't you want a British title fight on there? What an opportunity, really and truly, for me and Ursu to fight on that card,” he said.

“We’re both highly avoided. We're both very talented fighters. Why not both get the opportunity to show the world how good we are?

“I feel like that would be great for me and Ursu, really. That's a winnable fight. I believe I'd win that fight. I'd announce myself onto the world stage. Winning the British title against an undefeated fighter, it would be good.”