MONTREAL - It could be banner year for Canada in professional boxing in 2002.

Eric Lucas of Ste-Julie, Que., will defend the WBC super-middleweight belt he won last summer, Kirk Johnson of North Preston, N.S., is next in line to fight John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title and Leonard Dorin of Montreal will challenge Argentina's Raul (Pepe) Balbi for the WBA lightweight crown.

Welterweights Hercules Kyvelos and Arturo Gatti, both of Montreal, super-welterweight Fitz Vanderpool of Kitchener, Ont., and cruiserweight Dale Brown of Calgary may also get title fights in the new year.

And that's not counting Lennox Lewis, the WBC and IBF heavyweight king who grew up and was trained in Canada but now fights for England.

"This has never happened before," Yvon Michel, general manager of the Interbox stable, said Thursday. "There have been only 14 world champions from Canada in the last 100 years.

"And there could be others. There's Syd Vanderpool and David Defiagbon. There's a lot of good boxers out there. There's never been this quality before."

It starts Jan. 5, when Dorin (19-0) meets Balbi (47-4-1) at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Tex., for the lightweight title. Dorin, whose real name is Leonard Doroftei, is a Romanian immigrant who expects to get Canadian citizenship next year.

The fight was in doubt Thursday when it was reported that Balbi had suffered an unspecified injury in training camp.

But after talk surfaced of declaring the title vacant and having Dorin fight for it against another ranked opponent, a call came in saying Balbi was OK and the fight was on as planned.

"I saw that guy on tape and he's a good boxer - a warrior," said the five-foot-four Dorin, a two-time Olympic bronze medallist who has fought out of Montreal since 1998. "I don't believe he doesn't want to fight.

"It must have been something else."

Dorin will earn $80,000 Cdn., but winning the title would lead to bigger paydays in future.

Lucas, who won the WBC belt over Britain's Glenn Catley on July 10 and defended it Nov. 30 against Dingaan Thobela of South Africa, is expected to defend again in March against American veteran Vinny Pazienza.

Michel said all that remains to finalize the fight is for a U.S. promoter to sign a deal to stage it at either the Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun casinos in Connecticut. Lucas said he would earn about double the $152,000 US he got for beating Thobela.

Pazienza, 37, is a former IBF lightweight and WBA super-welterweight champion.

"I like to fight here, but sometimes you have to go outside as well," said Lucas. "I think I can open some people's eyes in the United States."

Michel said offers have poured in from fighters looking for a shot at Lucas. Robin Reid and David Starie of Britain and No. 1-ranked Marcus Beyer of Germany were among the callers.

"If he's so popular, it's because people believe he's vulnerable," said Michel.

Michel hopes to bring Lucas back to the Molson Centre in Montreal for a fight on either May 11 or May 18, possibly against No. 8-ranked Antwun Echols.

The undefeated Johnson (32-0-1) is ranked No. 1 by the WBA and is the mandatory challenger for Ruiz, who is coming off a draw in his third meeting with Evander Holyfield.

No date has been set for Johnson's long-awaited first crack at a world title. He has been training in Fort Worth, Tex., since his victory in July over Larry Donald.

Gatti has a date Jan. 26 to fight Terronn Millett on the undercard of the Shane Mosley-Vernon Forrest WBC welterweight championship.

A win could put Gatti, the former IBF lightweight champ, in line for a shot at another title.

Kyvelos, who has climbed to No. 5 in WBC welterweight rankings, is scheduled to meet Johnny Molnar on Feb. 2 in Atlantic City. Again, a win could lead to a title fight.

Fitz Vanderpool, who lost a Canadian championship bout to Kyvelos two years ago, moved up one weight class to super-welterweight and has risen to No. 3 in the WBC, which is title fight territory.

Brown has been working his way back up the rankings since losing a title fight to Ukrainian IBF champion Vassily Jirov two years ago.

In Michel's dreams, if all goes perfectly, Interbox alone could have Lucas, Dorin, Kyvelos and Brown holding titles by the end of the year.

"If we have one win, I'll be happy," said Michel, who started up Interbox in April, 1998 with the financial backing of businessman Hans-Karl Muhlegg. "But if only one fights for a world title, that will be disappointing.

"I believe we'll have four this year and if they all win, it's a grand slam."