By Duncan Johnstone

Joseph Parker will return to Las Vegas this weekend to bury himself into training again but needing flexible sparring plans as the heavyweight world title scene continues to swirl around him.

Parker's win over giant Russian Alexander Dimitrenko last weekend in Auckland has him in the thick of the mix of the title talk.

He has to be on his guard because the possibility of a mandatory shot against IBF champion Anthony Joshua in Manchester on November 26 remains a possibility.

His preferred option is to arrange a December 10 title fight with Mexican Andy Ruiz in New Zealand and that's what his promoters Duco Events continue to work towards.

But it's only a seven or nine week time frame either way.

Parker's ideal training camps are around eight weeks, so there is no time to lose.

The fluid nature of the situation at the moment means Parker has to be just as fluid with his thinking at training.

"Joe has just had a successful camp fighting very big sparring partners preparing for Dimitrenko. Now does he prepare for a six foot six opponent in Joshua or a six foot two opponent in Ruiz?" noted promoter Dean Lonergan.

"It's going to require some flexibility and we'll give trainer Kevin Barry whatever he needs because there are major differences in size and styles between these options."

The sooner the scenario is sorted out, the better for everyone.

That includes Joshua's British promoter Eddie Hearn who holds the trump card and continues to tick the boxes towards a super fight for his man against former champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Hearn has that November 26 date booked but admits he might have to shift to December 10 as negotiations drag on.

Klitschko has become available after WBA, IBO and WBO champion Tyson Fury pulled out of their rematch for a second time.

That has presented the strong possibility of Fury being stripped of the belts and the race is on to grab rights for the vacant titles.

Hearn reiterated on Wednesday that both Joshua and Klitschko want the fight to happen and that he has been making progress.

"I am hopeful, both guys have it in their mind that that is going to be the next fight," Hearn told the Press Association.

"There are plenty of hurdles to overcome still and day by day we are ticking each of them off and I think there is a real expectancy from all sides now that that will be the next fight.

"Can we push that back to December? I'd like a little bit more time, that's a possibility as well. Wladimir Klitschko against Joshua is the most likely scenario.

"There are less lucrative ones Klitschko could take, some easier ones definitely. Klitschko has been training for 12 months, he has got the bit between his teeth and he wants to fight.

"The Joshua fight is probably the biggest out there in the division right now and it is a great fight - a young lion coming through against the master.

"Is it too early for Anthony Joshua? Maybe, but isn't that what makes it exciting? Anthony is ready for the fight and wants the fight.

"Wladimir wants the fight and all being well we can overcome the inevitable hurdles that come with a magnitude of this fight."

Hearn believes he can entice authorities to add any vacated WBO and WBO belts to the mix. Duco remain adamant Parker's No 1 ranking with the WBO means he has first dibs on a vacant title there.

Lonergan said they would look to have Parker fight one way or the other before the year was out.

If Hearn was able to pull off a mega-fight that included the WBO belt, Lonergan wasn't adverse to having Parker fight on the undercard in England which was the original proposition before the title talk ramped up.

"Why wouldn't you? Joe likes to keep busy and we want another fight. Our preference is Ruiz for the world title in New Zealand. If Eddie waves his magic wand and that can't happen, we'd be mandatory challenger to fight the winner of Joshua v Klitschko next year, so we'd look to keep Joe active."

Joshua is two weeks into his training camp as he prepares for his next defence.