By Terence Dooley

Eddie Hearn has told BoxingScene that a world title eliminator between London's Kevin Mitchell and Mexico's Daniel Estrada is "In play" for January, but that the fight is not a done deal despite Mitchell Tweeting that it has been set for London's O2 Arena on January 31st.

Estrada, 32-3-1 (24), missed out on the WBC lightweight title in August after suffering a ninth-round KO against Omar Figueroa, but he is still highly-rated so the 29-year-old could see the mooted Mitchell bout as a route back into contention. 

Mitchell fought a title eliminator against Ghislain Maduma in May, winning by 11th-round TKO, but his overnight weight increase was 2lbs above the limit set by the IBF and he was not granted mandatory status.  The 30-year-old has a 38-2 (28) record; his two losses were stoppages at the hands of Michael Katsidis and Ricky Burns (TKO 3 and 4 respectively) yet he insists that he has learned his lessons and is a better, more focussed fighter despite the weight miscalculation in May.

Mitchell sits at number six in the WBC ratings, Estrada is a place ahead of him and a fight between the two could see one of them secure another, probably final, world title crack.

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