The biggest all-Ulster clash in nearly 50 years seemed to take a step closer yesterday when John Duddy’s manager made positive noises about him battling with Neil Sinclair.

Promoter Frank Warren has made it clear that he will “remove all obstacles” to the meeting between Sinclair and Duddy, the possibility of which already has Irish fight fans drooling.

Duddy’s manager Craig Hamilton has responded to that by saying that he is “interested” in making the fight if the terms are right.

Duddy returns to the ring next month in New York and then wants to be back in the ring in March or early April and Hamilton believes it can be against Sinclair.

Belfast man Sinclair is the reigning Irish light-middleweight champion but Hamilton is adamant that the fight would have to happen at a weight closer to the middleweight limit of 160lbs, six pounds heavier than the light-middle limit.

Hamilton said: “I would be interested in doing the fight if we get a real date and real money. The money we were offered the last time made no sense.

“I’m ready to listen to Frank Warren, it just has to make sense for John. Of course John would love to fight in Ireland and if all goes to plan next month then he should be out again in March or April.

“John’s 31 now so there’s no point him trying to boil down to 154lbs. It would have to be around the 160lb mark.”

It is understood that talks between Warren’s company and Hamilton are expected to become more thorough over the coming week.

Hamilton is plotting a route for Duddy to a world middleweight title shot in 2010, though it seems

that major champions Kelly Pavlik (WBC/WBO) and Felix Sturm (WBA) are travelling on another path and added to that, Duddy’s clash with Julio Cesar Chavez jnr in March had to be scrapped due to the Mexican failing a drugs test. This has opened the door to Duddy-Sinclair, though Hamilton says the Londonderry man has other options.

Hamilton added: “John has his eyes on a World title shot and I’m looking at the options for him and that means every champion and not just Pavlik who has been mentioned before.”

Duddy bounced back from his solitary shock loss last year at the hands of Billy Lyell when defeating Mexican Michi Munoz in October and now meets American Juan Astorga at Madison Square Garden on January 23.

The middleweight star hasn’t boxed at home since December 2007 at the King’s Hall against Howard Eastman and he knows that a showdown with Sinclair would be even bigger with the Odyssey the expected venue.

Duddy remains ninth in the WBO rankings but that defeat at the hands of Lyell has seen him slip out of the top 15 in the WBA, WBC and IBF ratings.

Meanwhile, newly crowned European light-welterweight champion Paul McCloskey has moved into the No.13 spot in the latest WBC ratings and is No.15 in the WBO rankings.

McCloskey is expected to make a first defence of his title in March or April in Belfast.

British featherweight champion Martin Lindsay is rated No.8 by the IBF.