Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce is being lined up to fight veteran Carlos Takam on July 24, according to the Olympian's promoter Frank Warren.

Last November, Joyce picked up the biggest win of his career when he stopped Daniel Dubois in the tenth round of a high stakes WBO world title eliminator.

Dubois returned to the ring last Friday, with a two round demolition of Bogdan Dinu.

Joyce, an Olympic gold medal winner, was hoping to face Oleksandr Usyk for the interim-WBO heavyweight title.

However, Usyk has now secured a crack at unified champion Anthony Joshua, which is planned for September.

Dubois wants a rematch with Joyce - but that scenario will have to wait, says Warren.

First, Warren is planning to have Joyce return to the ring next month - against a veteran like Takam.

In 2022, Joyce will find himself in a mandatory position to the winner of the potential full division unification between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua - provided they win their upcoming assignments.

“The rematch between Joyce and Dubois is huge," Warren told The Mirror.

“I grew up when the British heavyweight scene was a case of who’d even think about winning world titles? Now it’s like a load of buses coming along. Once the AJ and Fury fight is done, assuming they win their respective fights, Joe will be in a great position whereby he is the mandatory and will fight the winner.

“Having said that, he has to win his fight against Takam and we want to keep him busy, so he’s out on July 24 and we go from there. But he has a tremendous pedigree and he knows he can’t afford to slip up if he wants his seat at the top table.”