Champ wants Malta match-up

WBO Oriental Light Welterweight champion Lance Gostelow, an Australian boxer of Maltese descent, was recently in Malta where he linked up with sports promoter Anthony Micallef with the prospect of holding a fight on our shores this year.

Gostelow, 25, is currently second-in-line Australian contender to Manny Pacquaio and Ricky Hatton.

In October, Gostelow takes on Nigeria-born Fatai Onikeke for the WBO Africa Light Welterweight title in Melbourne before seeking a return challenge for the World Championship belt after the proposed bout in Malta.

A win against Onikeke will rank Gostelow inside the world's top ten light welterweights.

In a statement, Micallef said it will be difficult to find a boxer of Gostelow's calibre in Malta, someone who can last the whole 12-round distance.

"It's not going to be easy to find somebody to go into the ring with Lance and that's understandable because he will be the best boxer to reach Maltese shores in a very long time," Micallef said.

"But the call is out there. If anyone is interested, they know where to get hold of me and we'll sit down and get started with the logistics of it all.

"I've had a couple of names bandied around, of who could give Lance a challenge, but it's all talk until they really want to make it happen.

"Lance is the best Australian-Maltese boxer since former champion and hall-of-famer Jeff Fenech."

Gostelow is certainly a boxer in his prime, having conceded only two defeats in his career, one in the WBF Light Welterweight World Championship - a points decision loss - and the other to Thai Somchai Nakbalee who he returned to beat only four months later.