EAMONN O’Kane will face Ferenc Hafner on the main event at the Oasis Leisure Centre a fortnight today, with a potential world title shot on the horizon.

The Northern Irishman, trained by Swindon’s Paddy Fitzpatrick, was originally due to face Frankie Borg on the World Awaits bill.

However, the Welsh middleweight champion, who is set to defend his title on March 13 in Newport, withdrew from the contest citing a stomach problem.

Now 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist O’Kane, who is ranked eighth in the world in the middleweight division, will face Hafner, who has won 23 of his 29 contests, knowing that he is potentially one step away from a shot at the world title.

“I have been speaking with the IBF and it looks like they are going to be stripping (champion) Jermain Taylor,” Fitzpatrick explained.

“The number one contender is Hassan N’Dam and then if you go down the rankings the next available contender is probably Eamonn.

“The number two is not ranked, Felix Sturm is ranked three but he has been fighting at super-middleweight.

“Number four is Billy-Joe (Saunders) and he is the number one for the WBO, but it appears that Peter Quillin, who is sixth with the IBF, will be fighting for the WBO title next.

“Sam Soliman is seventh but he lost to Jermain Taylor and is not allowed to contest it.

“Potentially, David Lemieux, who is ranked fifth, could say yes, but he is ranked number two by the WBC and will he want to give up the golden ticket to either (Gennady) Golovkin or (Miguel) Cotto?”

However, Fitzpatrick said that he has already been in contact with N’Dam’s manager Gary Hyde about the possibility of the fight.

“If Lemieux did take the fight, the winner of that would then have to face Eamonn,” the Ferndale Road-based trainer said.

“I have spoken with Gary Hyde and he is keen for the fight with Eamonn, so we know that we have to win against Hafner and look good.”