Another key step has been taken to keep the line moving in the junior welterweight division.
Unbeaten contenders Arnold Barboza Jr. and Liam Paro have been instructed to enter talks for a WBO 140-pound title eliminator. The sanctioning body contacted both teams on Tuesday to trigger the negotiation period.
“The parties herein have ten (10) days upon issuance of this letter to negotiate and reach an agreement accordingly,” WBO Championship Committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas informed both camps in a letter obtained by BoxingScene.com “If an accord is not reached within the time frame set forth herein, purse bid proceedings will be called per WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests.”
Barboza is promoted by Top Rank and managed by Rick Mirigian. Paro is signed to Matchroom Boxing and manager Alfio Di Carlo.
Should the bout move forward—whether through negotiations or via purse bid—the winner will become the mandatory to the WBO junior welterweight title. The current champion is Scotland’s Josh Taylor (19-0, 13KOs), who next faces former lineal and unified lightweight king Teofimo Lopez on June 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Australia’s Paro (23-0, 14KOs) previously commanded the top spot in the WBO 140-pound rankings but was never formally identified as the mandatory challenger. The 26-year-old Brisbane southpaw advanced to the top after a ten-round win over Yomar Alamo in their December 2021 battle of unbeaten young contenders.
His lone bout of 2022 was in an all-Oz clash with undefeated Brock Jarvis, which launched Matchroom’s DAZN debut in the Australian market. Paro made an emphatic statement in a sensational first-round knockout of his countryman. Paro entered 2023 with the intention of eventually challenging for a major title. However, he was forced to withdraw from a March 11 clash with England’s Robbie Davies Jr. after suffering a facial fracture during training camp.
Barboza (28-0, 10KOs) finally has the opportunity to move within one win of competing for a major title after screaming from the mountaintop for a fight with any top contender.
The 31-year-old Long Beach, California native has struggled to land fights with the top players even with the Top Rank stable. Included on the list of those who’ve turned a deaf ear is Lopez (18-1, 13KOs), whose team teased interest in such a fight upon arriving at junior welterweight only to leave the fight at the negotiation table.
Barboza is coming off a ten-round points win over former two-division titlist Jose Pedraza on February 3 in Glendale, Arizona. The fight was his first following a July 15 victory over then-unbeaten Danielito Zorrilla
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox