By Elliot Foster

Mairis Briedis looks set to go on a scouting mission after his next fight.

The WBC Silver cruiserweight champion is the mandatory challenger to world titlist Tony Bellew.

And Latvian Briedis (20-0, 17 KOs) will get the chance to see his potential future foe just hours after being handed the opportunity to add to his undefeated record.

The 31-year-old, who stopped Olanrewaju Durodola inside nine rounds in his home land back in May to win the aforementioned belt and land the mandatory position, is expected to feature on the same bill as Bellew in the autumn.

Bellew, 33, will make the first defence of his global bauble against former WBA interim title challenger BJ Flores on October 15 at Liverpool’s ECHO Arena, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

But he’ll be watched by the man who could be his next opponent, should the WBC force the mandatory challenger upon him, once Briedis has faced a foe to be determined over either eight or 10 rounds.

Boxing Scene followed up on reports of Briedis’ potential appearance on the bill by contacting his manager, Al Siesta, to confirm the news.

“It was a mutual thing,” Briedis’ manager, Siesta, told Boxing Scene.

“We agreed with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Sport that Mairis can go on the undercard, but it’s nice for Tony [Bellew] to be able to enjoy the championship and have an easier fight before going into another war because Mairis is a wrecking machine and it’s at least a 50-50 fight,” he said, “and that’s just me being modest.

“Mairis, too, has had a couple of tough fights and he really wants to fight Bellew, but he doesn’t mind waiting [for his shot]. They’ve both got families, so let them just prolong this mandatory thing before they have to clash.”

Siesta went on to confirm that the mandatory obligation must be met on or before March 1, 2017 and he is delighted with the move and the potential exposure it will bring his fighter.

“It was kind of Eddie to place Mairis on the undercard,” Siesta continued.

“It’s good for the publicity [of the potential clash between the two], good for Briedis to fight in Liverpool on the same bill [as Bellew], to come and showcase his talents in England, which is something that he really wanted to do.”

Having struggled for what he described as “nearly two years” to match Briedis, Siesta revealed that “there have been a couple of opponents [for the fight on the Bellew-Flores bill], but they pulled out.”

“Nobody wants to fight the guy, that’s why we had to go up to heavyweight to fight [Manuel] Charr.

“There’s no cruiserweight out there that’s really interested in fighting him,” said Southampton-based Siesta of Siesta Boxing, “and I’m talking [about] the top guys [Murat] Gassiev, [Marco] Huck, no-one wants to fight him.

“If psychologically he is prepared, his ability is unquestionable and with the right fights I think he will dominate for some time.”

Up to now, it has been confirmed that two-time British lightweight title challenger Sean Dodd will defend his WBC International crown on the card, with Dewsbury’s Gary Sykes the front-runner to be in the opposite corner, while WBC super-middleweight world title mandatory challenger Callum Smith (20-0, 15 KOs) and his brother Stephen Smith, the WBC Silver super-featherweight champion, are both expected to feature on the bill alongside former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price, who returned with a stoppage victory on May 29, and WBC International super-middleweight champion Rocky Fielding.