The title was vacated after Yuriorkis Gamboa, of Cuba, missed a mandatory re-weighing procedure established by the IBF in the lead-up to defending his IBF and WBA World featherweight titles against Jorge Solis in the US on March 26.

Gambo was stripped of his IBF title but retained his WBA championship in his fourth-round knockout win.

Dib will fight for the title midway through this year, likely against undefeated Miguel Garcia.

Dib, 25, has not held a major title since his IBO super featherweight title win back in 2008.

‘‘This is a perfect opportunity for me,’’ Dib said.

‘‘I’ve fought for world titles before and I’m accustomed to it.

‘‘Burning energy from now is not going to help; I need to stay relaxed and win the fight, that’s the most important thing.’’

The match will be Dib’s biggest test since his only loss, a WBO featherweight title fight in 2008.

Ironically, Garcia’s brother Roberto, was the mastermind behind helping Steven Luevano beat Dib over the 12 rounds.

‘‘He was my undoing, but in a way I owe it to him because they’ve transformed me into having that killer instinct,’’ Dib said.

‘‘I could have got another shot at a world title earlier but I

wasn’t ready.

‘‘I’ve had 10 fights now with [trainer] Billy Hussein and this is the perfect leap into a world title fight.

‘‘I’ve spent two years building up to this.’’

Dib’s camp is pushing for the fight in Sydney in July, although negotiations are continuing.

Garcia has an imposing fight record, undefeated from his 25 fights and with 21 knockout wins.

‘‘He is knocking people out and I’m knocking people out,’’ Dib said.

‘‘He or I will get knocked out; this is my opportunity to win a legitimate world title.’’

Follow Dib’s journey on

Twitter@BillyDib