Junior welterweight sluggers Ruslan Provodnikov and Lucas Matthysse, two of boxing’s most exciting fighters and biggest punchers, are set to meet in a fight many will view as a surefire fight of the year candidate.

They will square off in a scheduled 12-round bout on April 18 (HBO, 9:45 p.m. ET/PT) at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y., with the winner likely headed to a world title fight, Banner Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions announced on Tuesday.

“One-punch knockout power. Lightning-fast action. A likely world title shot to the winner. This bout has ‘fight of the year’ written all over it,” Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya said, Matthysse’s promoter. “This is a fight that fans have been clamoring for since these warriors were last in action, and Golden Boy Promotions is proud to deliver it to the fans worldwide.”

Artie Pelullo of Banner Promotions, Provodnikov’s promoter, went so far as to invoke the revered first showdown between then-lightweight champions Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo in 2005 — one of the most action-packed slugfests in boxing history – when talking about the expectations for the fight.

“This has the making of Corrales-Castillo I all over again,” Pelullo said. “This is the most fan-friendly and television-friendly fight in a long time. Both Ruslan and Lucas are real warriors, and it’s a fight that both fighters wanted, so it was very easy to make.”

HBO, which has televised three of Provodnikov’s last four bouts, had an option for his next fight under which it had the right of first negotiation and a matching right. When rival Showtime made a strong play for Provodnikov-Matthysse, HBO matched the offer.

HBO is planning a split-site card on April 18 with Provodnikov-Matthysse in one bout and lightweight champion Terence Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs), the 2014 ESPN.com fighter of the year from Omaha, Nebraska, who is moving up to junior welterweight, facing Puerto Rico’s Thomas Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs) for a vacant world title from a location to be determined, in the other bout.

“I’m glad that this fight is finally done,” said Provodnikov, a former world titleholder. “This is the fight I have been waiting for a long time. I think that this fight will be nominated for either fight of the year’ or knockout of the year.”

Matthysse, a former interim titleholder, is on the same page as Provodnikov.

“I only want the biggest fights against the best fighters and this fight between Provodnikov and I will surely be fight of the year,” he said. “Provodnikov is a warrior that never stops throwing punches and his style suits me very well.”

Said Mario Arana, Matthysse’s manager, “Ruslan is going to put up the great fight we want for Matthysse and will show that he is the best fighter in the division. Provodnikov is an uncompromising fighter that comes to fight and his style will suit Lucas.”

In March 2013, Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KOs), 31, of Russia, lost a decision in a welterweight world title bout against Timothy Bradley Jr. that was so fierce and so violent that it was the consensus 2013 fight of the year and launched Provodnikov into a series of major fights.

Provodnikov followed the loss by returning to the 140-pound junior welterweight division in October 2013 and going to Mike Alvarado’s hometown of Denver and beating him into 10th-round submission in another action-packed fight to win a world title. Provodnikov, known as the “Siberian Rocky,” lost the belt in his first defense by controversial split decision to Chris Algieri, whom he knocked down twice in the first round, in June.

In November, Provodnikov returned home to Russia and knocked out long-faded lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo in the fifth round.

Known as “The Machine,” Matthysse (36-3, 34 KOs), 32, of Argentina, was one of the most avoided fighters in boxing as he went on a brutal knockout binge during a four-fight stretch in 2012 and 2013 as he blew away former two-division titleholder Humberto Soto, Olusegun Ajose, Mike Dallas Jr. and reigning junior welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson in a nontitle bout.

That set Matthysse up to challenge unified world champion Danny Garcia in September 2013 on the big stage of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.–Canelo Alvarez undercard. In a highly competitive fight, Matthysse got cut and knocked down in the 11th round and lost a unanimous decision.

Matthysse has won two fights since, an 11th-round knockout of John Molina Jr. last April in a strong fight of the year candidate and a second-round knockout of Roberto Ortiz in September.

“I’m confident that I will win, and since Danny Garcia doesn’t want to fight me again, this fight will prove that I am one of the best fighters in the world,” said Matthysse, who recently signed a five-year contract extension with Golden Boy.”

Said Vadim Kornilov, Provodnikov’s manager, “I wish there were more promoters in the sport that are prepared to have their fighters take a risk and make the best fights for the sport. Usually the fights that everybody wants to see don’t happen due to reasons beyond the understanding of the fans, and it should not be that way.”