Oleksandr Gvozdyk is right in the thick of things in the light heavyweight division, and The Ring’s No. 7-ranked 175-pound fighter is looking to get a crack at one of the top contenders next time out.

The former light heavyweight champion Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) is specifically eyeing Callum Smith, who is fresh off a spirited unanimous decision win against Joshua Buatsi for the interim WBO title on February 22 in Saudi Arabia.

But first, Gvozdyk is set to take a tune-up tilt on April 19 on a Golden Boy Promotions card planned to be headlined by Alexis Rocha.

“I want to face the best guys out there,” Gvozdyk told The Ring in an interview. “Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev are probably not available because they are targeting a third fight. Now we have Callum Smith, who became an interim champion. Smith vs. Buatsi was a perfect matchup. Both guys showed a good fight to the fans. I’m ready and I'm here. I can compete at that same level, and I would like to fight Callum Smith. This could be a dream fight and I would like to have it. That would be perfect. I am open to all challenges.”

Gvozdyk, 37, is currently living in Camarillo, California and is training out of the Brickhouse Boxing Club in North Hollywood, California with coach Marco Contreras.

The 2012 Olympic bronze medalist from Ukraine is anticipating a turn-back-the-clock-like performance once he returns to the big stage, similar to what he did in 2018 by knocking out Adonis Stevenson.

Gvozdyk last fought in June and gave David Benavidez a stiff test during a unanimous decision loss. The only other defeat of Gvozdyk’s career came in 2019 against Beterbiev, as Gvozdyk was stopped in the 10th round while leading on two of the scorecards.

If Gvozdyk can’t land big fights against top-10 contenders like Smith, Buatsi, Anthony Yarde, Albert Ramirez, David Morrell, or Willy Hutchinson, the career-long light heavyweight said that he’d make a run as a cruiserweight.