Earlier this week, heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz made it clear that he was very willing to get in the ring with Dillian Whyte in the coming months. He's open to traveling over to the UK for the fight.

Whyte has been out of the ring since August, when he was knocked out in brutal fashion by Alexander Povetkin.

Since that fight, Whyte has been trying to secure a concrete date for a rematch - with November 21 and January 30 being pushed back as Povetkin recovers from COVID-19.

"If we could make the Dillian Whyte fight, I think that would be a great stepping stone, especially in the UK market," said Jimenez to Sky Sports.

"Dillian Whyte is no walkover, he's no stepping stone, but if that fight were to happen and Luis could come out victorious, I think we do deserve a Joshua fight."

Ortiz's manager, Jay Jimenez, believes Whyte would be the perfect fight to lead the Cuban heavyweight to a showdown with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO world champion Anthony Joshua.

Ortiz was in position for a fight with Joshua in June of 2019. The two sides were unable to reach a financial agreement.

When Ortiz fell out of the picture, then Andy Ruiz quickly jumped on the opportunity - and pulled off a massive upset when he stopped Joshua in seven rounds at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Jimenez is not overly confident Ortiz would have actually received the fight.

"I think it would have [been a victory for Ortiz], because I don't think Joshua was ready for a southpaw. He couldn't get ready for a southpaw in a month's time. We wanted the fight. I don't think Eddie [Hearn] really would have gave us the fight anyway. It wasn't a smart decision to step into a southpaw in a month. Not a southpaw like Luis. A bigger, stronger southpaw," Jimenez said.

"No regrets, it happened, and the right guy won that day, because maybe if it was someone else, he wouldn't have beaten Joshua. Joshua is just so skilled, so big. No regrets, hopefully we get another shot."