Wardley, the WBO heavyweight champion, trains alongside the 21-year-old Itauma at Ben Davison’s gym and has previously described a fight between them as “an impossibility.”

However, that decision may be taken out of his hands after the WBO’s president, Gustavo Olivieri, declared that he would “formally recommend” Itauma be made its next mandatory challenger.

Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs), The Ring’s No. 6-rated heavyweight, is also ranked No. 1 by the WBO. He maintained that position with his fifth-round knockout victory over Jermaine Franklin on March 28. If Itauma is made mandatory challenger, Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) would then have to face his gym-mate or relinquish the title.

Before he has to worry about that decision, the 31-year-old Wardley must get past Daniel Dubois in his first defense of the WBO belt Saturday night in Manchester, England. He does not expect to face Itauma even if he defeats Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs), as Wardley’s main target is an undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.

“My stance on the Itauma fight hasn’t changed,” Wardley told a group of reporters. “Look, I’m still in the same gym with him, I’m still next to him, we’ve still got the same trainer and stuff. So right now, as of this moment, it’s still an impossibility. It’s still not going to work, WBO mandatory or not. I think that’s something for much further down the road.”

Historically, unification fights always trump a mandatory challenge, meaning that the WBO would likely allow Wardley to face Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) for his Ring, IBF, WBA and WBC belts instead of having to face Itauma.

Wardley is The Ring’s No. 1 contender for Usyk, who gave up the WBO belt rather than making a mandated defense against Wardley. Usyk’s decision resulted in the WBO elevating Wardley from interim champ.

“Post this fight,” Wardley said, “and if I get through Daniel successfully, the hope and the plan is obviously to go onto Usyk. I don’t think the WBO will be averse to a unification fight.”

DAZN will stream Wardley versus Dubois as a main event from Co-op Live Arena. The card is included for subscribers to DAZN’s Ultimate plan ($49.99 per month in the United States; £24.99 in the UK) and is available via pay-per-view for non-subscribers ($59.99 in the U.S.; £24.99 in the UK).