South African boxer Corrie Sanders (left) and Britain’s Lennox Lewis at a news conference in London on Wednesday. (Reuters)

London: South African Corrie Sanders has opened negotiations with Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine to fight for the World Boxing Council (WBC) title relinquished by Briton Lennox Lewis last Friday.

At a news conference in London on Wednesday, Sanders’s South African manager Vernon Smith said talks had begun on Tuesday night for a possible title fight in the United States in April.

Sanders, 38, knocked out Klitschko’s brother Vladimir last year to win the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) version of the heavyweight crown. He has won 39 of his 41 fights, 29 of them by knockout.

Klitschko lost to Lewis in the Briton’s last professional fight. He is the number one contender for the WBC title, while Sanders is the number two after giving up his WBO belt.

“This is Corrie Sanders’s opportunity of a lifetime,” Smith said. “We hope to have this fight taking place somewhere in April of this year. We hope Vitali Klitschko is up to it.

“We would love the fight to take place in America.”

Lewis, who is now a director of the management company representing Sanders, said he knew the Klitschko brothers were scared of the South African because of his unorthodox southpaw style.

“They don’t really know what to do about it,” he said. “It’s wide open now, let the new champion take over. The opportunity is there for a great fight.”

Sanders, who knocked out Vladimir Klitschko in the second round of their WBO fight last year, said he wanted to do the same to his brother.

“I will show you that I am going to whack Klitschko like he has never been whacked before,” he said.

The WBC title is recognised as the most prestigious of the four belts. Americans Roy Jones Jr and Chris Byrd are the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation champions, respectively.