By Rick Reeno

Sources have advised BoxingScene.com that a deal is very close for undefeated top contender Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10KOs) to challenge WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF unified heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53KOs). The fight would be televised on HBO on April 25th.

The frontrunner venue has emerged as the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Manhattan's Madison Square Garden and Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany were the other two venues being considered.

The April return would be Klitschko's first fight in America since his 2008 unification win over Sultan Ibragimov at MSG.

Gary Shaw, promoter for Jennings, had "no comment" when BoxingScene asked for a statement regarding the status of any Klitschko-Jennings discussions.

Per a recent order from the World Boxing Council, Jennings is the mandatory challenger to the winner of January's showdown between WBC champion Bermane Stiverne and challenger Deontay Wilder. He would lose that position in fighting Klitschko.

Wladimir last returned on November 15th in Hamburg, with a destructive fifth round knockout of Kubrat Pulev.