Rees celebrates his world title with trainer Enzo Calzaghe

The Ukraine-born, New York-raised fighter is being lined up to face the Welsh champion on the Joe Calzaghe v Mikkel Kessler undercard on 3 November.

"It's the fight I want, I hope it's signed soon," Salita told the Boxing Talk website. "Rees is a good fighter but I truly believe that I'm the best.

"I've thought of being a world champion every day since I was 13 years old."

The Calzaghe-Kessler bout will be held in front of a huge crowd at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, just a short distance from Rees' Newbridge home.

Rees, 27, won the WBA title from Souleymane M'Baye in July.

That took the Enzo Calzaghe-trained Newbridge man's record to 27-0 (13 KOs).

He faces a mandatory defence against Andreas Kotelnik, but has been seeking a mandatory defence before that and WBA-ranked number three Salita will provide a stiff test.

The 27-year-old, whose family emigrated to Brooklyn when he was nine, is undefeated in 28 fights, with 15 stoppages to his name.

The only blemish on his six-year record came with a draw against Ramon Montano in Atlantic City in March last year.