by Shaun Brown

Kell Brook will return to action on July 28, while his long-term rival, Amir Khan, could fight in Birmingham at the end of August or early September.

Wins for both men takes them one step closer to their long awaited showdown, which their promoter Eddie Hearn would like to make in December.

Their first fights of 2018 took place in March and April. Both bouts turned out to be extremely one-sided with Brook overwhelming Sergey Rabchenko inside two rounds, while Khan blew away Phil Lo Greco in one round.

Step-ups are needed before both face one another. Should that not play out as Hearn would like, Brook could face unified super welterweight champion Jarrett Hurd.

"It's looking like July 28 possibly at the O2 Arena," Hearn said to Boxing Scene of Brook's return. He added that Katie Taylor, Joshua Buatsi and Conor Benn could also feature on Matchroom's final show before the end of the summer.

"With Kell, he really likes the Jarrett Hurd fight. It's a very tough fight, it's a great fight, but I would like to see him have one more because he got a round and a half against Rabchenko. He feels great at 154lbs. Jarrett Hurd is a huge super welterweight, and Kell is just a normal super welterweight. It's really taking another massive challenge and Jarrett Hurd, whilst he's a brilliant fighter, hasn't yet got the profile in the States for that to be a huge payday and obviously the focus for Kell is Amir Khan. That's the one we want, everybody wants for December."

"We've wanted to go there for a while," Hearn said of Khan potentially fighting in Birmingham.

"We haven't been there for over a year. The venue hasn't been available. I think Amir would go down well in Birmingham. Obviously, we sold out the Echo (Arena, Liverpool) last time. If we can put on a good fight, with a really strong Midlands undercard, I think it would do really well there.

"Amir needs rounds. If he's going to dive in to a Brook fight, or any big fight, he needs some rounds. So we need someone who's going to excite the fans and the public, and also give Amir Khan a solid test. Same for Brook as well."

Shaun Brown covers British boxing for Boxing Scene. Contact him on Twitter @sbrown2pt0