Carl Froch?s dream of going to Las Vegas for a mega-fight farewell to the ring is now within touching distance of reality, with US promoter Bob Arum asserting serious interest in the Cobra facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr in Sin City.
Such a fight would gross at least $50million, from pay-per-view TV on both sides of the Atlantic as well as live gate receipts at the MGM Grand Garden.
That is likely to be the clinching incentive for Froch to fight again, which he has suggested he might only do if the next one is a big night in the fight capital of the world.
His spectacular knockout of George Groves has caught the imagination in America and Arum confirms: ?Carl vs Julio would be big in Vegas and definitely a pay-per-view event on HBO television.?
Chavez is Froch?s preferred option, even over a re-match with Andre Ward, the only one of the world?s elite super-middleweights he has yet to beat.
As the namesake son of Chavez the legendary Mexican, Julio Jnr would galvanise the Hispanic boxing market with Froch appealing across the board to the American majority.
Arum, Hall of Fame promoter of Chavez as well as Manny Pacquiao, predicted victory for the Nottingham Cobra over Saint George and has already opened discussions with the HBO network about Froch-Chavez being pay-per-view over there, as well as on Sky Sports Box Office here.
Chavez has recently scored a convincing win in a re-match with the highly-rated Brian Vera, having made the super-middleweight 12-stone limit comfortably for the first time of late to suggest that his recent struggle with drink and drug abuse is now behind him.
And he has been quick to say: ?A fight with Froch would be huge. I am already looking forward to it happening.?
The projected date is early to mid-November
Just in case it doesn?t happen, Mikkel Kessler has jostled nearer the front of what promoter Eddie Hearn calls ?the orderly queue? of current and former world champions eager to cash in on the box-off magic of Froch.
The Viking Warrior remains behind Chavez Jnr in that line but as he flew home from Wembley to Denmark he improved his chances by offering to come back to England for a third battle with Froch.
Kessler makes that move even though he lost to the Nottingham Cobra at the 02 Arena, having beaten Froch in his home town of Herning.
Having watched Froch cement his legacy in the hardest game, Kessler said: ?I would love to box Carl again and if it means I have to come back to London, I will do it. It would be fantastic to be part of something like the amazing show they put on at Wembley on Saturday night.?
Kessler knows his only hope of procuring the third fight in what would be a classic ring trilogy is to yield home advantage.
That means either London – or possibly Las Vegas if it were to be thought that two European fighters could fill the MGM Grand Garden and sell at least half a million pay-per-view buys on HBO.
Kessler, who is coming back unexpectedly after announcing his retirement following his defeat by Froch, says: ?I?m only returning for the big fights. It is 1-1 between me and Carl and I would return to London. We could fight in front of 40,000 in Copenhagen and that would be easier for me. It is an advantage when you fight at home. But I know I would get a fair shake in England.
?A real champion travels overseas, unlike Andre Ward who hardly ever boxes outside California.?
Ward?s lack of box office appeal is against him, while it has to be uncertain if a world title unification match between Froch and Sakio Bika, who took his WBC belt to Wembley to show the Cobra, would be a draw in Vegas.
As for Groves, the road back could begin with a tough return against James DeGale? if his fellow Londoner can forgive him for persistently rejecting a re-match after their close first fight.
That punch which reverberated from Wembley Stadium around the world is finally getting Carl Froch the global recognition he so richly deserves.
Ring magazine, the bible of boxing in the US, joins me in listing Froch in their top ten pound-for-pound fighters in the world, albeit a couple of places lower.
Froch?s knockout of George Groves ? as spectacular as the Wembley setting ? is the most recent in a cluster of fights which demand a reshuffle of my rankings.
