The summer schedule in the sweet science is shaping up to be a scintillating one, and it could have a blockbuster scorcher in Tinseltown if everything goes according to plan.

Gervonta Davis told BoxingScene.com that he’s in negotiations with Leo Santa Cruz for a fight to take place this June in Los Angeles. The fight could be a pay-per-view on Showtime and take place at the Staples Center, according to two sources aware of the negotiations.

Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) and Santa Cruz (37-1-1 19 KOs) have been on a collision course to face each for the past year. Earlier this month, Davis even tweeted a mock poster hinting of the showdown after both fighters had been calling each other out in the previous months.

In January, Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Davis’ promoter, told BoxingScene.com that his Baltimore-bred boxer’s next fight would be on pay per view. Davis has had yearslong ties with Showtime and has had his fights staged on the premium cable network.

In addition to getting the business portion straight, both fighters would have to figure out what weight they’d be fighting at.

Santa Cruz made his 130 pound debut in November and did just enough to score a unanimous decision win over Miguel Flores for the WBA super featherweight belt that Davis vacated. In the process, Santa Cruz became a four-division champion.

A month later in December, Davis made his 135 debut against Yuriorkis Gamboa and dropped and stopped the Cuban for the vacant WBA lightweight belt. Davis initially had trouble making the lightweight limit but did so successfully the second time after stripping down shortly after.

Santa Cruz told BoxingScene.com that he would fight Davis at 135 or 130, but his preference would be at the junior lightweight limit.

“If Gervonta and I fight, I will work really hard, a lot better than the Flores fight,” said Santa Cruz. “He will not like my pressure. If it gets passed four rounds with Davis, he’ll get tired and overwhelmed. That will be my plan to beat him.”

Since the fight is to be staged in Los Angeles, the only fitting venue would be the Staples Center. Due to the NBA suspending it’s season because of the coronavirus outbreak, either one of the playoff bound Lakers and Clippers will surely be playing games in June.

Davis and Santa Cruz are both PBC fighters, and PBC only does business with AEG-owned properties like Staples Center, Dignity Health Sports Park and Microsoft Theater at LA Live.

The 31-year-old Santa Cruz is from LA and has headlined at all three locales before, including twice at Staples Center against Abner Mares. The Toyota Arena in Ontario is also owned by AEG, but putting on a big show in that market would be highly unlikely.

Davis made his LA debut last year with a dominant KO win over Hugo Ruiz at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, bringing out a slew of stars in the process.

If a fight were to take place in June like Davis said, June 6 and 13 could be the dates to target.

May 30 is destined for a Teofimo Lopez and Vasyl Lomachenko fight in New York on ESPN PPV, while Anthony Joshua is set to take on Kubrat Pulev on June 20 in Tottenham, London on DAZN.

If PBC and Showtime opted to stage a show on June 27, they’d perhaps fall in the traps of PPV fatigue considering the Deontay Wilder versus Tyson Fury trilogy is slated for July 18 in Las Vegas in yet another Fox and ESPN PPV.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports and hosts his own radio show in Los Angeles. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com.