MATCHROOM BOXING announced plans for the remainder of the year, and started off by unveiling the signing of middleweight contender Matthew Macklin.

He will make his bow for his new promoters on August 30 in Dublin and said he could meet Andy Lee, Sam Soliman and Martin Murray before the end of the year.

“I’m really excited about this next part of my career,” he said. “I feel I’ve got plenty left in me, Eddie [Hearn] keeps his fighters busy and active and that helps them when the opportunities do come up.

“[Gennady] Golovkin aside I’d jump in with any of the champions. I’m very excited to be back in Ireland and I’m excited to be back on Sky Sports. After the last two years I’m a much more experienced fighter and I will be in a position where I can make the most of it.”

Heavyweight Anthony Joshua is also due to appear on the bill against recent David Price victim, Yaroslav Zavorotnyi.

Elsewhere, Welsh dynamo Lee Selby is due to meet Joel Brunker on October 11 at the O2 in London in a final eliminator for the IBF title, held by Evgeny Gradovich.

“I’ve gone from small hall shows to final eliminator, one fight away from fighting for a world title,” said Selby. “There’s a buzz back in Wales and hopefully I can take that forward and become the next Welsh world champion.”

James DeGale is in hot pursuit of the Carl Froch bout, for which he is the IBF mandatory challenger, and he said he was “100 per cent” confident of being ready for “The Cobra.”

“Boxing at Wembley in front of 80,000 people was unbelievable,” he said of his big win over Brandon Gonzales, “plus the knockout, plus the victory, it was the perfect night for me.

“They’re the big fights I’m about, the big stadiums and the big names.”

Kell Brook confirmed he will head to Carson on August 16 to face Shawn Porter for the American’s IBF welterweight belt.

“It’s been a long road,” Brook admitted. “When I first walked into the Ingle gym at nine years old I wanted to be a world champion, I’ve had some bad luck, everything happens for a reason and it’s my time now. The date can’t come quick enough for me. Obviously it’s been very frustrating. My time is now. I’ve had enough training. We thought it was going to be late July so these extra few weeks are going to be the icing on the cake. I’m 28-years-old, in my prime years and I think Porter is going to bring the best out in me.

“We’ve not seen the very best [of Brook]. I seem to do enough with whatever is in front of me but if he has underestimated me it’s not going to be good at all for him. It’s definitely going to be a Brook victory.”