The biggest bout of Ryan's career will be an International Boxing Organisation world title eliminator, and comes after the 31-year-old strung together four straight wins.

The one-time battler has found a higher plane - and the fight against Hogan, who has had three unsuccessful shots at world titles, is reward for that.

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Ryan and Hogan will fight immediately before Nikita Tszyu - the younger brother of super welterweight star Tim and the son of former world champion Kostya - makes his professional debut on the Fox Sports Australia live show at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre on March 2.

David Syphers, Ryan's longtime trainer, is miffed that a rookie professional - even one carrying such a famous surname - has been given top billing over his charge and Hogan.

"If his name was Tszyu he'd be headlining every fight," Syphers said of Ryan.

Ryan's past three wins have been on Tim Tszyu undercards. The first of those fights was at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in March last year, when Ryan scored an eye-catching TKO win over Koen Mazoudier.

In the main event that night, Tszyu had a TKO win over Hogan, whose unsuccessful world title challenges includes a loss to undefeated WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. Hogan has 29 wins, fours losses and a draw.

The Brisbane-based fighter, 36, is coming off a win over Australia's Tommy Browne at Sydney in November. The victory snapped a three-fight losing sequence.

Fighting on the same promotion, Ryan had a unanimous points win over Japan's Nath Nwachukwu. It was his last bout, and he retained the IBO international super welterweight title while improving his record to 20 wins against nine losses.

Syphers said the Hogan contest would be a "step up" in class for Ryan, with it materialising after the duo "had a talk" when Ryan lost two fights in a row.

"And we decided we were really gonna step up the training and change a lot of things around. We did, and he seems to have improved," Syphers said.

"We just had to turn it around, and that's what he's done," the veteran trainer added.

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