Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell have another two weeks to work out terms at the negotiating table in hopes of settling their differences in the ring.

The pair of top-rated lightweights will now have until January 21 to reach an agreement for their World Boxing Council-ordered title fight, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman informed BoxingScene.com on Monday.

The bout was formally ordered last month, with an original deadline of January 3 in place before being sent to a purse bid hearing. Both sides requested an extension due to the holiday season, which the WBC was willing to oblige in hopes the extra time will lead to a deal in place.

Fortuna is represented by Sampson Lewkowicz’s Sampson Boxing—along with his affiliation with Premier Boxing Champions—while Campbell fights under promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing banner.

Whether through an agreement or purse bid hearing, Fortuna and Campbell are due to collide for the vacant WBC lightweight title. The belt became available after previous claimant Devin Haney (24-0, 15KOs) relinquished in exchange for designation as “Champion in Recess” as he recovers from recent shoulder surgery. The 21-year old enjoyed just a seven-week stay as a WBC titlist, first claiming the interim belt in a four-round wipeout of Zaur Abdullaev.

Haney was then upgraded to full titlist after unified titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko was granted the WBC “Franchise” champion tag in late October. The lone successful defense for the unbeaten Las Vegas-based boxer came in a 12-round decision over Alfred Santiago in November, an intended showcase which instead left Haney with an injured shoulder requiring surgery and putting him on the shelf until at least May.

The injury forced him to bow out of talks for an ordered title defense versus Fortuna (35-2-1, 24KOs), a former two-division titlist from Dominican Republic who now trains out of the greater Boston area.

Fortuna made his way to the top of the WBC lightweight rankings following a two-round wipeout of former featherweight titlist Jesus Cuellar last November. The 30-year old southpaw is unbeaten in his last three starts since a failed bid at becoming a three-division titlist, a split decision defeat to then-unbeaten titlist Robert Easter Jr. in a Jan. 2018 bout where he missed weight and was unable to claim the belt even with a win.

The lone other career loss in Fortuna’s career ended his junior lightweight title reign, suffering an upset 11th round knockout at the hands of Jason Sosa in June 2016.

England’s Campbell (20-3, 16KOs)—a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist—has maintained a lofty WBC ranking despite coming off a convincing loss to Lomachenko in their three-belt lightweight fight this past August in London. The loss marked his second unsuccessful bid at capturing a lightweight title, coming up just short in a spirited Sept. 2017 12-round battle with then World Boxing Association (WBA) champ Jorge Linares.

Three wins came in between title fights, including a decisive 12-round nod over Yvan Mendy last September to avenge his first career defeat from Dec. 2015.

The ability for the two sides to come to terms will determine which contender will have to fight on an unfamiliar platform. Through his affiliation with PBC, Fortuna’s bouts have been primarily carried by Showtime and Fox Sports. Campbell’s career-long alignment with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing has been showcased on Sky Sports platforms in the United Kingdom and—since September 2018—DAZN in the United States, although his title fights with Linares and Lomachenko aired on HBO and ESPN+, respectively.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox