After weeks of speculation surrounding WBO/IBF middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly's next move, his No. 1-ranked challenger now has a clear pathway towards earning a second world championship opportunity.

The WBO have given the teams of Denzel Bentley and Endry Saavedra 20 days to successfully negotiate terms before a purse bid is called, after the Venezuelan's eighth-round stoppage win over Mikkel Nielsen on the Tim Tszyu-Joseph Spencer undercard on April 6.

The 34-year-old, promoted by Matt Rose's No Limit Productions, won the WBO International title Bentley previously held that night, and by doing so was upgraded to a more favourable ranking with the sanctioning body.

No. 2-ranked contender Saavedra (17-1-1, 14 KOs) is unbeaten in five contests since Brazil's Etoundi Michel William emerged a wide 10-round decision winner at his expense in October 2022.

The following month, Bentley (21-3-1, 17 KOs) performed admirably and exceeded expectations in his maiden world title shot despite a 12-round points loss to Alimkhanuly in Las Vegas, seven weeks after defending the British belt against Marcus Morrison.

The 30-year-old has flickered between fantastic and frustrating since, but won a 12-round decision over former British titlist Brad Pauls on Dec. 7 to reclaim that strap while scooping the European strap vacated by Hamzah Sheeraz a month prior.

The three-time British titleholder vacated that strap, which has since been won by Kieron Conway, while the EBU have this week revised their 160-pound title situation to suggest Bentley also relinquished that belt.

Conway vs. EBU Silver champion Diego Natchoo (31-3-5, 10 KOs) has been ordered, with a July 30 deadline to agree terms between both camps. Marseille-born Natchoo, 33, has boxed almost exclusively in France and Monaco during a 10-year career.

He won the title once held by compatriot and world-level contender Bruno Surace with a second-round finish of Florin Cardos on Feb. 1, before defending it on May 28 with an 11th-round disqualification victory over Italy's Giovanni Rossetti.

In this month's BBBofC circular, however, Conway is tabbed to defend his title against unbeaten Commonwealth Silver champion George Liddard (12-0, 7 KOs) on Oct. 11 in Sheffield on a card featuring Dave Allen's return and Junaid Bostan-Bilal Fiwaz 2.

Clarification will be sought in the coming days, as is the case for Alimkhanuly's latest move as he continues to angle for a three-belt unification with WBC titleholder Carlos Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) on social media.

Bentley, meanwhile, has made his frustrations clear publicly about being made to wait for fight news, having told The Ring last month that he was still unsure about when exactly he'd be returning.

Queensberry chief Frank Warren told The Ring's Dec Taylor they were pushing the sanctioning body for a decision and WBO's Chairman/Founder Luis Batista Salas have at last emailed over confirmation of their stance Monday.