A pair of unbeaten junior welterweights are in advanced talks for a fight that will set up a major title fight down the road.

The Ring has confirmed that the respective teams for Russia’s Khariton Agrba and Cuban export Kevin Hayler Brown (6-0, 3 KOs) aim to finalize terms for a planned WBA 140-pound title eliminator. The attractive matchup is targeted to take place on March 15 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

“We are still working on it,” RCC Boxing’s German Titov, Agrba’s promoter, told The Ring. “We are close, hope to have it done by next week.”

Agrba (15-0, 9 KOs) is already the WBA No. 2 contender and cannot conceivably move up any higher. Brown (6-0, 3 KOs) is No. 10 with the WBA.

The sanctioning body’s current mandatory is Japan’s Andy Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs). His team already plans to challenger the winner between WBA 140-pound titlist Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs), The Ring’s No. 10 junior welterweight contender and Gary Antuanne Russell (17-1, 17 KOs) on the March 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Agrba would remain at home for this assignment.

It has been the case for all but one career bout for the 29-year-old southpaw. His lone road trip came in Feb. 2020, his second pro fight which took place in Panama.

Each of Agrba’s last two contests have gone the full ten-round distance. His last win came in a unanimous decision over then-unbeaten Jose Angel Rosa last Nov. 4 in Samara, Russia.

Brown was well traveled during his amateur career but will fight overseas for the first time as a pro.

The 30-year-old contender—raised in Cuba but now based in Las Vegas where he trains under Bob Santos—has fought exclusively at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida since his Aug. 2022 pro debut. That fight was scheduled for eight rounds; the rest have been scheduled for ten.

Three of Brown’s last four fights have gone the full ten-round distance including each of his last two. The most recent also represents his best win to date, a hard-fought, unanimous decision win over John Bauza last Sept. 6.