By Keith Idec

Jonathan Maicelo hoped that his impressive victory over lightweight contender Jose Felix Jr. would lead to another significant fight.

A month after flooring Felix five times on a his way to a unanimous-decision win, Maicelo might be on the verge making his HBO debut. Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. is considering putting a bout between Peru’s Maicelo (25-2, 12 KOs, 1 NC) and Mexican veteran Ray Beltran (32-7-1, 20 KOs, 1 NC) on a May 20 card in Newark, New Jersey, that’ll feature Terence Crawford in the main event.

Butch Sanchez, Maicelo’s co-trainer, told BoxingScene.com that negotiations are progressing to make the Maicelo-Beltran bout the opener of HBO’s doubleheader from Newark’s Prudential Center, home of the NHL’s Devils. Maicelo, a crossover star in his native Peru, lives in nearby North Bergen, New Jersey, when he comes to the United States to train for his fights.

Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), the WBC and WBO super lightweight champion, is expected to face either former Dominican Olympian Felix Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs) or Amir Imam (19-1, 16 KOs) in the main event May 20. Imam, of Albany, New York, has won just one tune-up fight since he was stopped by Adrian Granados (18-5-2, 12 KOs) in the eighth round of their November 2015 fight in Quebec City, Canada, yet is the mandatory challenger for Crawford’s WBC 140-pound championship.

“To me, this feels like the Cuban that comes to America and plays Major League Baseball,” Maicelo told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “To have a chance to be on HBO and be on a card with one of my favorite fighters, Terence Crawford, it’s almost surreal. I hope it happens because it would be a dream come true. I would be the first Peruvian to fight on HBO. It seems like everything I’ve been dreaming of is about to become a reality now.”

The 33-year-old Maicelo has re-established himself as a lightweight contender following his 12-round, unanimous-decision loss to Colombia’s Darlys Perez (33-2-2, 21 KOs) in their fight for the interim WBA world lightweight title two years ago in Santa Ynez, California. He is 4-0 since then, including his five-knockdown win against Mexico’s Felix (35-2-1, 27 KOs) on February 17 in El Paso, Texas, and a 10-round, unanimous-decision victory over Cincinnati’s Brandon Bennett (19-2, 8 KOs) in August 2015 in Washington, D.C.

Beating Beltran, 35, would at least move Maicelo into position to possibly fight for a lightweight world title again.

“I respect Beltran a whole lot as a person and as a fighter,” Maicelo said. “I would love to put my talents up against Beltran’s. I know it would be a very exciting fight for HBO. It would be an action-packed fight. I have a lot of respect for Beltran, but if it does happen May 20th it will be a fan-friendly fight because we’re both real busy fighters. I just hope and pray it happens.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.