Promoter Kalle Sauerland has indicated that Dereck Chisora and Anthony Joshua could meet for the European heavyweight title in the spring.

Chisora, who is represented by Sauerland, had been scheduled to meet champion Robert Helenius, but a number of reports have backed up a tweet from Sauerland stating that Helenius intends to vacate his crown.

Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin follow Chisora in the European rankings, but with both men already in line to compete for a world title in their next outing, that leaves Joshua in line to meet Chisora for the vacant belt.

Sauerland told Sky Sports News: "If Helenius gives up the belt then okay - thanks for wasting our time. The next one is Klitschko, who's lining up a Fury rematch. Then there's Povetkin, who's in talks with Wilder. The next one in the rankings is Joshua, so it would come down to a Chisora-Joshua fight. In the UK, we don't need to do much selling there.

"The fight would be imminent because it would be ordered. It would then be up to us to agree a deal with Matchroom, and we have a very close working relationship. The fighters have their demands, we represent those and try to reach terms. That would be the next step.

"It's all speculation at the moment because as it stands, the rumours of Helenius vacating are only that and we're still going to a purse bid tomorrow, but strong indications are that they've got cold feet."

Joshua is scheduled to return to the ring on April 9 at London's O2 Arena, and all indications are that the two British heavyweights will meet on that date should terms be agreed.