Golden Boy Promotions announced today the signing of the undefeated and current WBO Intercontinental super lightweight champion Arnold Barboza Jr. (28-0, 10 KOs).
“The mold of a Golden Boy fighter is talent and hunger to become a world champion, which are all the qualities that Arnold Barboza Jr. possesses,” said Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya. “We will position him to fight for a World Title Belt in the very near future. We’re the best in the business at building the next generation of stars and Arnold Barboza Jr. will put the 140 pound division on notice.”
Barboza Jr. will participate on the DAZN broadcast of the Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte card in Houston, Texas at Toyota Center on Saturday, December 2.
“I’m ready for the big fights,” said Arnold Barboza Jr. “I’m ready for the big events, I’m ready to fight in LA where I was born and raised. I feel that Golden Boy and Oscar will deliver this for me and they stepped up and gave me what I asked for.”
A Los Angeles native, 31-year-old Barboza Jr. made his professional debut as a welterweight on June 14, 2013, scoring a six-round unanimous decision victory against Gustavo Lopez. Since then, he has quickly dispatched a number of tough rivals and has climbed the ladder to become ranked No. 1 by the WBO, No. 4 by the WBC.
“Value is not determined by those who set the price, value is determined by those who choose to pay it,” said Rick Mirigian, Manager to Barboza Jr. “Golden Boy has placed a high value on Barboza and wasted no time to show it.”
In his decade-long career, Barboza held various regional titles including the WBO International super lightweight title (2020-2021) and the NABF super lightweight title (2018-2019). His most notable wins include an unanimous decision victory against former world champion Jose Pedraza, a unanimous decision victory against Danielito Zorrilla, a dramatic unanimous decision win against world title contender Alex Saucedo, and a fight that went the distance against Antonio Moran.